Rep. Pingree Statement on Derek Chauvin Guilty Verdict

Statement

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) released the following statement after a jury found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty for the murder of George Perry Floyd, Jr.:

"George Floyd should be alive today. My heart goes out to his loved ones, who have suffered unimaginable loss. This verdict offers small comfort but has demonstrated the overwhelming need for the Senate to pass the Justice in Policing Act now."

Pingree voted with her House colleagues on March 3, 2021 to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act -- landmark legislation will create mandatory accountability standards for police and address systemic racism in law enforcement and police misconduct.

The legislation originally passed the U.S. House last year in the wake of high-profile police killings of Black Americans -- including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery -- whose murders sparked months-long nationwide protests. The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act seeks to curb police brutality by banning chokeholds, stopping no-knock warrants, and ending the court-created qualified immunity doctrine for law enforcement. Pingree is an original cosponsor of the legislation and was during the 116th Congress as well.

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