Washington, DC — In response to the guilty verdict of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd, Quyen Dinh, executive director of SEARAC, offered the following statement:

“George Floyd deserved to be alive today. He, along with Breonna Taylor, Christian Hall, Fong Lee, Tommy Le, Daunte Wright, Adam Toledo, Ma’Khia Byrant, and many others before and after him should still be with us today, and we hold them and their grieving families in our hearts. Law enforcement continues to incarcerate, deport, and kill our community members. While a guilty verdict is a necessary first step toward justice, it is not a substitute for the substantive policy changes urgently needed to end the root causes of state-sanctioned violence against Black, Brown, Asian, immigrant, refugee, and other minority communities.

In order for our communities to truly heal and feel safe, Congress must take bold action to overhaul a racist system. We echo the calls from Black and Brown communities for our elected officials to move quickly and divest from law enforcement and reject efforts to fund excessive, brutal, and discriminatory policing. Instead, our elected officials must seek comprehensive changes that also deeply invest in the needs of communities of color.

As a representative of refugees, children of refugees, and survivors of war and genocide, SEARAC remains committed to working in solidarity to transform our country’s racist systems into ones where we can all thrive and live without fear of state violence and displacement.”

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