When Jefferson County Sheriff Zena Stephens heard that a jury had found former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin guilty in the murder of George Floyd, she wept.
But she said it’s hard for her to explain why.
“I am African American,” she said. “I saw someone wearing the uniform and a badge — a profession I love, a profession I’ve done for 30 years — committing a blatant murder, and we were all on pins and needles waiting on a verdict I thought should be easy for anyone to come to. I think that was the toughest part.”
The county’s highest-ranking law enforcement officer said she recorded nearly all of Chauvin’s trial to watch in the evening after work, and she felt a sense of pride when she watched fellow members of law enforcement testify.
“One of the most impactful testimonies wasn’t the police chief. It was the most senior officer in the agency who testified,” she said. “That is a symbol of, ‘We all agree. We know what right looks like. We know what wrong looks like.’ He’s been a police officer for longer than I have, and he said what I did, ‘I’ve never been trained to do that.’”
And yet, she and other local leaders sat in nervous anticipation to see if the jury would identify what so clearly to them seemed to be murder.
In fact, Deondre Moore, a member of the Black Lives Matter movement who was raised in Beaumont, said he was mentally preparing himself to hit the streets and start protesting again to continue to demand justice.
Instead, he felt relief.
“It shouldn’t have taken that long to get a verdict for something the world saw happen,” he said. “But everything we’ve done to this point was impactful. All the marching wasn’t in vain. It was for a purpose.”
And yet, there was still a fire in his heart.
He said he wonders if part of the verdict was just to appease the masses and, long-term, there will be no improvement to the criminal justice system and policing.
So, he’s going to continue his advocacy in whatever ways he can.
Beaumont NAACP President Rev. Michael Cooper said in the next few days, his fight will continue by heading to Austin to lobby the Texas Legislature to pass the George Floyd Act and reject attempts at voter suppression.
He acknowledged that the threat of COVID-19 continues, and that not everyone can head to Austin or take similar action. But individuals at home can still watch the Facebook Live streams of protests and call their representatives to voice concern.
And, if all else fails Moore said, vote out the politicians who aren’t advancing justice.
Even with all this work still ahead, on Tuesday, Port Arthur Mayor Thurman Bill Bartie said there was hope.
After the verdict, he recalled sitting in school and hearing about Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, one that gave hope to so many people across the country. Bartie said the “same monster” of racism that was alive then, continues today in different ways and keeps King’s dream necessary.
But 53 years after King’s assassination, the country may have taken another step toward that dream.
“This verdict gives me hope. I am an African American male. I am afraid like any other African American male when I get stopped by a police officer. You don’t know what he’s going to do. You know that you’re not going to do anything wrong, but you don’t know about him,” he said. “Today, as an African American myself, I believe there is some hope in the justice system - some fairness. Right now, I’m elated.
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