Media Contact

Katie Hoeppner, khoeppner@aclu-nm.org

April 21, 2021

ALBUQUERQUE, NM — Yesterday, a jury found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all charges in the murder of George Floyd. 

Leon Howard, legal director of the ACLU of New Mexico, had this response:

“Yesterday’s verdict is the only verdict that could have provided George Floyd’s family with a measure of peace and healing. It was a rare, and much needed, instance of an officer being convicted for murdering a Black man. But we cannot breathe a collective sigh of relief yet because our work to hold police officers accountable and to prevent them from murdering Black and Brown people is far from over. True justice would mean that people of color no longer have to fear that every interaction with police could lead to their deaths. To ensure justice for our communities, we must drastically reduce the size and scope of police departments, reallocate funding toward social services and community-run violence-prevention programs, demand transparency, and consistently hold police accountable when they brutalize people in our communities.  The ACLU will not rest until we make this vision a reality for our state.”