Urban Meyer on verdict in murder of George Floyd: ‘The jury got it right’

Urban Meyer: Ready to build a winner in Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The NFL draft is a week off, but Jaguars coach Urban Meyer took a moment during his media availability Wednesday to offer his thoughts on a case that had the attention of everyone in the country.

On Tuesday, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all three counts in the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis. Chauvin, a white man, pinned down Floyd with his knee on his neck for more than nine minutes after responding to a call for use of a counterfeit $20 bill. Floyd, a Black man, died as a result of it.

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Chauvin faces up to 40 years in prison for second-degree murder, up to 25 years for third-degree murder and up to 10 years for second-degree manslaughter. He will be sentenced in eight weeks.

Meyer wasn’t coaching last year when those events occurred — he was a television analyst — but knows the power of the movement that came out of them.

“Well, I think the jury got it right and that horrific video is going to forever be in all of our minds,” Meyer said during his pre-draft media availability on Wednesday. “I look forward to working with our team and the Jacksonville community and trying to make a positive impact.”

A reckoning on racism, police brutality and social justice emerged over the spring in 2020 when three prominent cases involving African-Americans captivated the country and ignited protests across the nation.

Sports teams protested by not playing scheduled games. Company after company condemned the actions and vowed to be a part of change. Jaguars owner Shad Khan penned a powerful op-ed piece last June saying that “now is the moment” to confront the unequal treatment.

Former Jaguars receiver Chris Conley gave a powerful speech during a march to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office about the need for change.

Ahmaud Arbery was killed by the son of a former law enforcement agent in Brunswick, Ga. Breonna Taylor was killed on March 13 when police officers who were executing a search warrant barged into her home and shot and killed Taylor. A grand jury indicted only one of the three police officers in the Taylor case, Brett Hankison, but only for firing into a neighboring apartment.

Arbery was killed on Feb. 23 while jogging through a residential area. He was unarmed and the incident was caught on video. His assailants were white. A trial date has not been set in that case.

The tipping point in those events came when Floyd was restrained by Chauvin. The officer held Floyd down on the ground and pressed his knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes. The incident was caught on camera and became the final flashpoint in America saying, ‘Enough!’

Other cases involving police use of deadly force since have garnered far greater scrutiny and study.


About the Author:

Justin Barney joined News4Jax in February 2019, but he’s been covering sports on the First Coast for more than 20 years.