Derek Chauvin trial: Live updates on George Floyd’s death

Char Adams

28m ago / 11:30 AM UTC

Even though it has been nearly four years since a jury acquitted Tulsa, Oklahoma, Police Officer Betty Shelby in the killing of Terence Crutcher, a 40-year-old father of four, his twin remembers the trial like it was yesterday. 

“What was mainly heart-wrenching was to hear her, see her, the person who killed my brother. She showed no remorse,” Tiffany Crutcher recalled.  

Today, George Floyd’s family is enduring this retraumatization during former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin’s trial. Chauvin has been charged with second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, after kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes last year. 

Mental health professionals have, in recent years, highlighted the emotional and psychological toll racist violence can have on Black people. From videos of police brutality to watching criminal trials with bated breath, the stress of such experiences is well-documented. But for the families of victims of police violence, emotional stressors are heightened, said Maysa Akbar, chief diversity officer of the American Psychological Association and the author of “Urban Trauma: A Legacy of Racism.”

While the world watches the attempt to serve legal justice for another person killed by police, Akbar notes that for the family involved, justice in court doesn’t always amount to healing.

Click here to read the full story.