Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says Democrats have a duty to change “how we structure society” in the wake of the Derek Chauvin trial.
The New York Democrat was insistent on Tuesday that a jury’s guilty verdicts against the former Minneapolis police officer for second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd should not detract Democrats from a goal of fundamentally changing America.
“This is not about cameras and retraining and chokeholds,” she told Instagram followers of Chauvin’s actions. “This is about changing how we structure society and the valuing of Black life.”
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez added that Chauvin’s legal fate was not “justice” because Floyd would not be “going home tonight to be with his family,” although she said the jury’s verdicts might precipitate some introspection among her peers in Congress.
“Democrats have a lot to contend with,” she added. “Not good enough. There’s some things we really gotta talk about. We really gotta talk about how Democratically controlled cities still pump and pump and pump police budgets.”
Sentencing for Chauvin, whose bail was revoked after the verdict, is expected to take place in roughly eight weeks.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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