Legally, today marks an extremely rare occurrence in America -- a police officer convicted of murder on the job.

Even in 2021, many do not realize *how* rare...
From 2005 to 2015, across thousands of police killings, the number of police officers convicted of murder for shooting a person was...

Zero.
The fact is U.S. police are almost never convicted of murder on the job.

Data on murder convictions for police shootings by Prof. & former officer @philstinson:
Since the Floyd killing, 16 states passed new bans on neck restraints.

But recall, murder was already "against the law" - reforms are part of the issue, but laws don't have much impact if they go *unenforced.*

Enforcement of the law can deter and change conduct. We know that.
This jury found that Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd.

Today he was remanded from court to jail -- a former enforcer facing enforcement. That can impact and deter future police conduct...
When you listen to many activists, you hear something fundamental:

The BLM movement is not about sending police to jail.

It's about stopping the state from murdering Black people.
It's also about equal justice and reforms and much more, but when we witness and cover the *end* of this justice process -- a trial and enforcement -- this is the response to a *past* killing.

That's different from building a system that is (someday?) equal from the start.
You can follow @AriMelber.
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