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Plug-In: Murder convictions in death of George Floyd — why faith angles were important

April 26, 2021
4 min read

Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.

This week’s big news — former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s conviction on all counts in George Floyd’s murder — is a story about police brutality. And racial justice. And yes, the power of faith.

USA Today captures this powerful scene:

George Floyd’s brother Philonise Floyd was sitting with his head bowed and his hands folded in front of his face in prayer before the verdict was read. As each verdict was read, his hands increasingly shook and his head nodded up and down.

“I was just praying they would find him guilty. As an African American, we usually never get justice,” Floyd said.

The exceptional coverage by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Chao Xiong and Paul Walsh contains this important highlight:

As news spread of the verdicts — guilty on all counts — social media sites reposted the Minneapolis Police Department’s initial report that Floyd died of a medical event at the scene, an assertion that might never have been contradicted so forcefully were it not for a teenage girl, Darnella Frazier, walking by and recording Floyd’s death last May 25 on her cellphone and posting it for the world to see.

“I just cried so hard. This last hour my heart was beating so fast, I was so anxious, anxiety [busting] through the roof,” Frazier, who was 17 at the time, posted on Facebook after the verdict. “But to know GUILTY ON ALL 3 CHARGES !!! THANK YOU GOD THANK YOU … George Floyd we did it!! Justice has been served.”

And the Los Angeles Times’ Kurtis Lee recounts this scene:

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who eulogized Floyd in Minneapolis, said he did not find pleasure in the moment. 

“We don’t celebrate a man going to jail,” he said. “We rather George be alive.”

“Amen! Amen!” shouted a person in the back.

Hamil R. Harris reports on the prayers for peace and justice in Minneapolis and across the nation this week.

“I love you and God loves you. Put them guns down,” George Floyd himself was quoted as saying in an in-depth profile by a team of writers (including religion specialist Luis Andres Henao) that The Associated Press re-upped. Also still worth a read: Liza Vandenboom’s award-winning profile of Floyd’s faith, published here at Religion Unplugged the week of his death.

AP’s David Crary and Henao write about faith leaders’ response to the verdict, as does the Religion News Service staff.

Finally, RNS’ Jack Jenkins has a really interesting piece on “Minneapolis churches caught in standoffs between protesters and police.”

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. Why defining gossip matters in the church’s response to abuse: “After reporting several stories on abuse in Christian orgs, I noticed how many victims weren’t able to share their experiences or concerns with each other out of fear they’d be disciplined for ‘gossiping,” Christianity Today’s Kate Shellnutt notes on Twitter.

Her curiosity about Christians working “to recover a biblical understanding of harmful hearsay vs. healthy criticism” resulted in this must-read cover story.

2. Guarding faith: St. Louis archdiocese adds another priest’s name to its list of abusers, but won’t talk about it: St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Jesse Bogan takes a deep dive into the lack of details provided about clergy sex abuse claims against the late Rev. Vincent J. Duggan.

“They never asked me anything about what they can share,” an alleged victim tells the Post-Dispatch. “I don’t know what in the hell they are talking about. Who are the ‘faithful’? These guys are crazy. They never asked my family what they can share.”

CONTINUE READING: “Murder Conviction In George Floyd’s Death: Why The Power Of Faith Is Important,” by Bobby Ross, Jr., at Religion Unplugged.

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