Washington, Apr 21 (UNI) Former US president Barack Obama on Tuesday welcomed the verdict in the George Floyd murder case, saying a jury did the right thing, but true justice requires much more.
Mr Obama took to twitter and wrote: "Today, a jury did the right thing. But true justice requires much more. Michelle and I send our prayers to the Floyd family, and we stand with all those who are committed to guaranteeing every American the full measure of justice that George and so many others have been denied."
Earlier in the day, the US jury in the state of Minnesota held former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty in the George Floyd murder trial.
He also shared his and Michelle Obama's joint statement along the tweet.
"For almost a year, George Floyd's death under the knee of a police officer has reverberated around the world- inspiring murals and marches, sparking conversations in living rooms and new legislation. But a more basic question has always remained: would justice be done?," he said in the statement.
In this case, at least, we have our answer. But if we're being honest with ourselves, we know that true justice is about much more than a single verdict in a single trail, the statement added.
"True justice requires that we come to terms with the fact that Black Americans are treated differently, every day. It requires us to recognize that millions of our friends, family and fellow citizens live in fear that their next encounter with law enforcement could be their last. And it requires us to do the sometimes thankless, often difficult, but always necessary work of making the America we know more like the America we believe in," the statement further added.
"While today's verdict may have been a necessary step on the road to progress, it was far from a sufficient one. We cannot rest. We will need to follow through with the concrete reforms that will reduce and ultimately eliminate racial bias in our criminal justice system. We will need to redouble efforts to expand economic opportunity for those communities that have been too long marginalized," the 60-year-old said.
And as we continue the fight, we can draw strength from the millions of people-especially the young people-who have marched and protested and spoken up over the last year, shining a light on inequality and calling for change. Justice is closer today not simply because of this verdict, but because of their work, Mr Obama added.
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