KILLEEN, Texas — Derek Chauvin's verdict was a moment that began nearly a year ago when George Floyd was killed in Minnesota.
That death brought on protests and movements across the country, and here in Central Texas. With the verdict being announced today, it is a relief, according to Killeen NAACP president TaNeika Moultrie.
“Just to actually hear the verdict, was just overwhelming, overjoyed, ecstatic and glad that the jurors had enough courage to do what was right," she said.
Jurors found Chauvin guilty on charges of murder and manslaughter. It took them 10.5 hours to find come to their conclusion. For Moultrie, this was a win for all races.
“Just for us to see this as a nation, it’s not just about Black, it's not just about white, it's not just about Asian, it's not just about Hispanic," she said. "It's about us as a nation, seeing justice finally prevail.”
Reshard Hicks runs Let's Move Killeen, an organization involved in politics, activism, and social movements in Killeen. Hicks believed that today was an important step in the right direction and that the eventual sentencing should not distract people from what happened today.
“The victory that we felt today, we’ve got to hold onto that," Hicks said. "We’ve got to hold onto hope. We can’t be negative, we can’t think down. It’s a positive step in the right direction, we have to keep moving forward and not anticipate for something bad to happen.”
Neither group has any events planned but say they will update on their social media.