Following the conviction earlier this week of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who murdered Georgia Floyd, the South Bend chapter of Black Lives Matter held a virtual rally Thursday night in honor of Floyd and other victims of police shootings.
BLM – South Bend co-leader Jorden Giger said Chauvin’s conviction is cause for celebration. But, he also said that real justice would mean people like George Floyd and Eric Logan, who was shot and killed by a white South Bend police officer, would still be alive.
“So what’s next, what does that mean, right?" Giger said. "Well, for us here locally, it means that we’re gonna continue doing the work that we’ve been pushing really since Eric Logan was murdered, since 2019.”
He said that work includes removing police officers from local schools, and making sure the city’s Community Police Review Board is properly established.
Giger also played a clip from the most recent Board of Public Safety meeting, where an SBPD officer raised concerns that officers weren’t being properly trained on the department’s new Use of Force Policy.
Giger once again called for a public meeting with South Bend Mayor James Mueller to address changes to the policy and how they will be implemented.
Contact Gemma atgdicarlo@wvpe.orgor follow her on Twitter at@gemma_dicarlo.
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