We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.”

Floyd family attorney: “We cannot celebrate because an arrest is not a conviction”

Benjamin Crump, the attorney for George Floyd’s family, said in a news conference on Wednesday that people should not celebrate because an arrest is not a conviction.  

“We cannot celebrate because an arrest is not a conviction, and we want justice. You know, we don’t want partial justice. We want whole justice,” Crump said.

“The family has always wanted first-degree murder. They wanted him charged to the full extent of the law,” he added.

“This is the tipping point in America where we finally address something they don’t like to talk about,” he said. “There are two justice systems in America. One for black America and one for white America, when there should be equal justice for the United States of America.”

Earlier today: Three former Minneapolis police officers on the scene when George Floyd was killed were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced today.

Ellison said he’s upgrading the charge against Derek Chauvin, the officer who had his knee pressed into Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, to second-degree murder.