NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Closing arguments in the Derek Chauvin trial are set to begin Monday. The former officer who knelt on the neck of George Floyd is facing charges of second and third-degree murder, along with manslaughter. The trial has been one of the closest watched in decades.
It’s also stirred up renewed emotions from the George Floyd murder especially in the wake of recent police violence.
“I am tired of watching black and brown people be killed and slaughtered like animals,” said Jaeana Bethea.
The emotions are easy to hear from the voice of Bethea as she stepped up to the mic. She addressed the crowd that stood just feet from the front door of the Yale Police department.
“I’m speaking up for Breonna Taylor who did nothing to justify her murder. She was murdered and did not receive any justice,” said Bethea.
For Bethea and the dozens of others who took to the streets in New Haven, the emotions are still raw from the summer's killing of George Floyd.
The trial of his accused murderer, Derek Chauvin, and recent police-involved shootings of Daunte Wright and Adam Toledo sparked renewed calls for the defunding of police.
“We need to devest what we put into ‘keeping us safe’ and put them into the education systems and put that into extracurriculars and affordable housing, affordable healthcare,” said Bethea.
The march went from New Haven City Hall to the Yale Police department, where calls to disarm and dismantle the department were made.
“Yale police does not make me feel safe,” said Abigail, a member of Concerned and Organized Graduate Students (COGS) of Yale. “They don’t make my loved ones feel safe and there’s no level of safety imagined or real of any person or any group of people that justifies the endangerment or the harm of other groups.”
In February, Yale Police Chief Ronnell Higgins spoke to improving policing measures during a student-led panel discussion. He talked of new bias training being given to officers and the addition of two plain-clothed officers to respond to mental health crises.
Although, those who called for their dismantling feel they only contribute to institutionalized racism and creating barriers that protect the “elite” from the community.
“This rhetoric of protecting against crime, protecting against a big, bad, dangerous city doesn’t exist,” said Abigail.
Jury deliberations are set to begin this week in the Chauvin trial. Cities across the country are already preparing for potential protests that could follow the outcome.
Yale Police have not answered our request for comment on Sunday’s protest.