"I can't breathe." Those were among the last words of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who died last May at the hands of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who knelt on his neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds. A jury concluded on April 20, 2021, that Chauvin was guilty of his murder.

Chauvin heard the verdict in Minnesota's 4th Judicial District Court, where he was found guilty on all three charges: second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. Judge Peter A. Cahill has yet to hand down a sentence in the case.

Chauvin is expected to appeal the verdict.

Eyewitness videos of Floyd's murder viral on the internet and set off a national and international firestorm of protests demanding systemic reforms and an end to police brutality and institutional racism. Seattle saw almost daily protests and was the focus of an international spotlight after the formation of the Capitol Hill Organized Protest, which led to the Trump administration to declare the city an "anarchist jurisdiction."

Reactions to the verdict: Mayor Durkan

Seattle's LGBTQ+ organizations and individuals almost unanimously praised the jury's decision. In a written statement, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, a Lesbian, said that "the cruel and degrading murder of Mr. Floyd shook our nation" and that "the jurors and our system of justice have confirmed what we saw with our own eyes."

"George Floyd was murdered, and Derek Chauvin violated his most solemn duty to protect lives and uphold the law," she said. "True justice demands that we admit, recognize, and work to address those systemic inequities. True justice would have meant that George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, and countless others [would have] never suffered this fate.

"Though this trial is over, and we await justice to be served at the time of sentencing, the work to dismantle institutional racism in our country has far to go. Just as John Lewis and others trying to cross a bridge in Selma decades ago galvanized a nation, the murder of George Floyd showed too clearly how much was left undone...

"Our country must acknowledge and work to dismantle the reality of institutional racism and its insidious impacts on all aspects of our society, including policing.?Our country must work to ensure that the promise of America really is available to all Americans... "We have made some systemic changes in Seattle, including new alternatives in policing and historic investments in Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities. That work will continue."

Joey Wieser

Joey Wieser, a Gay man who has been documenting the protests over the last year on social media, told the Seattle Gay News this week that "the protests ignited a new wave of white consciousness with respect to grappling with the racist history, form, and function of policing in the United States" and that "mounting public pressure forced elected officials to stop relying on downstream 'quick fixes' to solve the problems experienced by historically looted communities (e.g, youth jails, private prisons, [and] racist policing) and instead invest in upstream determinants of a healthy society (e.g., land ownership, restorative justice, [and] education)."

Wieser cited the closure of both Seattle's youth jail and Tacoma's immigrant detention center by the year 2025 as "two concrete arguments for the effectiveness of sustained protests." However, he warned that "400 years of racist practices won't be undone in a summer, or even several summers, but if even one Black or Brown life is saved by holding police officers and elected officials accountable, then the unrest was certainly worth the effort."

"The way I see it, there are two sides to justice: accountability, followed by change. Chauvin's conviction was the accountability. The jury is still out on the latter," said Wieser. "If you look at 2021, the police have already killed 320 people this year and on average kill nearly 1,100 Americans annually. The highest number of officer convictions ever recorded in a given year is 11. You can't tell me all other 1,089 shootings are justified year after year when other wealthy countries such as Canada, Australia, or Germany have only 36, 21, and 11 police killings, respectively. This is a uniquely American problem, and the struggle is far from over.

"Going forward, I hope the Queer community can ground ourselves in our history and remember that the first 'Gay Pride' was a riot against police brutality. And, let's be clear: last summer, we all collectively choked down tear gas on top of the rainbow crosswalks during the first week of Pride — under the authority of a Lesbian mayor — all because we believe Black Lives Matter.

"No matter how open-minded, socially conscious, and anti-racist we think we are, we still have old, learned, hidden biases that we need to examine. It's our responsibility to check ourselves daily for our stereotypes, prejudice, and ultimately, discrimination.

"But as they say: if you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together. That's why the alphabet mafia that is LGBTQIA+ has been so successful politically in recent years: when you build a coalition of struggle that transcends race, class, gender, or sexual orientation, you can literally change the world."

Gay City

Fred Swanson, the executive director of Gay City, added that this verdict could not have happened without the "collective outrage, demonstration, activism, and public pressure that was placed on the media, the Minneapolis Police Department, and government officials," according to a written statement.

"Many of us were bracing for the worst today, as history has shown us time and time again that police are rarely held accountable for their actions, most especially when their victims are Black and Brown adults and children," he said. "Gay City celebrates the accountability represented by three guilty verdicts in the murder of George Floyd, even as we reflect on the countless other lives lost without justice or accountability. May this be a turning point, and may those who have worked tirelessly to fight for justice take a moment to reflect on the impact of their work. The work is not finished, but today is a rare and important sign of progress.

"This verdict is not the end though. What has transpired is but a winning footnote in the greater fight for equity and the dismantling of white supremacy and other systemic oppressions. We again demand that the City of Seattle divest from the Seattle Police Department, and 50% is just the least. We also uplift the passing of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act by the US Senate."

LGBTQ Allyship

LGBTQ Allyship, a Seattle-based nonprofit seeking to build power among LGBTQ communities and allies in Washington state to work toward economic, racial, and gender justice, also issued a brief statement on its Facebook page, which said the organization was "reaffirming its commitment to fighting for racial justice," adding that the LGBTQ+ community "didn't need the state to confirm that he is a murderer" and that "George Floyd should be alive."

"As long as the system is a broken, racist machine, there will be no true justice," said the LGBTQ Allyship statement. "But this is a consequence, something that the police have gone far too long without."

The GSBA

The GSBA, Seattle's LGBTQ+ chamber of commerce, called on its members to "assert throughout their lives and businesses that Black Lives Matter, and identify the role they can play in... combating anti-Black racism."

"Small businesses are the cores of our communities, the cores of neighborhoods — they should ensure that they are part of the solution as well," said a joint statement from Jay Petterson, the GSBA's board chair, and Mark Rosen, the acting president and CEO. "We again commit ourselves to practice active allyship as a historically white-led organization, listen and practice accountability, and to always find ways to do more to change this racist system."

Entre Hermanos

Entre Hermanos, Seattle's LGBTQIA+ Latino organization, also issued a announcement on its website "in solidarity with our brothers, sisters, and siblings of color in this moment."

"We breathe, and we release an exhale of frustration," the statement reads. "We recognize that this verdict tastes bittersweet to a mourning family, community, and world. We recognize that convicting a man who used a police badge as a license to murder to [prison] is a cruel irony, and little balm to a community that has been so victimized by the criminal justice system and the systemic use of imprisonment against [them].

"We also recognize that it is the first time anything like justice has been seen for Black people murdered by police in a very long time.

"We recognize that, as with any moment that feels like a victory, the real work begins now once more. We recommit. We stand with those who still have gotten no justice.

"We breathe, and we inhale precious oxygen that will empower us to continue to strive for true justice for our community and for all communities."