'The Fight Isn't Over': Minnesotans Continue To Emotionally Process Chauvin Verdict
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- People around the world are processing what unfolded in Minneapolis Tuesday.
The guilty verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial sparked extreme emotions in the Twin Cities and beyond.
It's been a year of fiery emotion, with sadness over the death of George Floyd, and over the way he died.
And then the trial itself was graphic and grueling. Joe Nixon, who visited George Floyd Square Wednesday, watched the trial closely.
"It's just an emotional thing, especially when you see it on TV, and then you get close-up shots of it," Nixon said.
And then the emotion of the verdict, as people danced and marched in the streets of downtown Minneapolis. A day later, it's finally sinking in, and processing meant mixed emotions for many. Brooklyn, New York resident Bryan Ampaabeng is a south Minneapolis Native.
"The fight isn't over," Ampaabeng said.
His life started near where George Floyd's ended.
"I remember growing up, coming into Cup Foods and getting slushies and whatnot," he said.
And now he and his sister, Amanda Schultz, are finding some peace at the place where there was so much anguish.
"I'm just glad that everyone is like calm and have come together and are just enjoying this," Ampaabeng said.
Schultz now lives in south Minneapolis.
"I do want to like take a win whenever we can get them, so it is a celebration," Schultz said.
But it is a tempered celebration. Jermaine Palmer, a native Minnesotan, calls the verdict a start.
"I shed a tear yesterday because, you know, I'm glad we got something out of this," Palmer said.
He says even though there is some comfort in this moment, what was gained cannot compare to what's been lost.
"With 400 years [we're] steps behind," Palmer said. "We only got one step forward."