Photo Courtesy of The Shaderoom / Twitter
With the desire to move forward in life, George Floyd’s sister chooses to forgive her brother’s murderer, former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin.
Fox 26 attended the screening of The Making of George, a 40-minute documentary capturing Adrienne Rison-Isom’s creation process of sculpting George’s $110,000 statue stationed at Tom Bass Park in Houston. The unveiling ceremony occurred in October 2022.
LaTonya Floyd, George’s sister, candidly declared she forgave Chauvin, adding she understood the nation might disagree with her choice.
“I know America may think I’m crazy for saying this, but I gotta get this off my chest,” LaTonya said. “At this point, three years down the line, I do forgive Derek Chauvin for what he did. It’s not ok that he did. Ok, but I have to forgive him in order to move forward in my life. I’ve been running around in circles, I’ve been going through a whole lot, and if our higher power don’t forgive us, we’re nothing. We’re lost. We’re outta there.”
She continued, “And I can’t keep living my life with this anger that’s gonna form to hate, such as he had. And it’s going to lead to me doing something like that because I’m mad; I’m angry. I can’t live with that within me. So I pray for him, and I pray he find peace within himself, and I pray that next time, he kneel down, he’s kneeling down to help someone up, not hold ’em down. God has a plan for everybody. I pray for Derek, and I do forgive you, and if you are listening, may the peace of God be with you, man.”
George’s brother, Philonise Floyd, commented that despite three years passing, there was still much work to be done, from chokehold bans to changing or ending “qualified Immunity Protections,” which protects government officials from having to be financially liable for violating someone’s civil rights.
“All of this stuff needs to be passed,” Philonise said. “If you want to consider this place that we live in, the United States of America, to be a great place where people fight to get to.”
Philonise also wants more people to understand the big picture surrounding Floyd’s death and the marching.
“People are getting a better understanding, and it’s not just Black people. It’s white people out there marching,” stated Floyd. “He was a great person, and to me, I just want people to understand.”
Following George’s death on May 25, 2020, Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahil sentenced Chauvin to 22 1/2 years for murder.
AP News reported that Chauvin and his attorney, William Mohrman, appealed his murder conviction Wednesday, May 17, arguing he didn’t receive a fair trial since the Cahill declined to move the proceedings out of the city.
In January, Mohrman requested the appeals court throw out his client’s conviction, which was denied. He filed a more recent petition to have the state’s highest court review their case.
They’re hoping the Minnesota Supreme Court approves the review.