Account
Wizards' Bradley Beal: Score 'Still 1,000 to 1' After Derek Chauvin Verdict
April 28, 2021
Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal knows there is still a long way to go in the United States to address racial injustice and police brutality even after the recent Derek Chauvin conviction.
Beal discussed his thoughts with Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated:
"Around the time of the [Chauvin] trial, I was actually nervous, because – I hate to say it – I didn't think they [the jury] were going to get it right. But that just shows the climate of where we are and how frequently this happens. To see guilty, guilty, guilty. That's a huge win. But the score is still 1,000 to 1. So that's progress, but it's still not what we want. And then to see [police brutality] happen four or five times throughout the rest of the week, right after that, we're not really moving this needle. So that's the frustrating part."
Chauvin is a former Minneapolis police officer who was found guilty April 20 of murdering George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, in May 2020. A Minneapolis jury determined he was guilty on counts of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, per CNN.com.
It was the first time in Minnesota history that a white police officer was convicted in the killing of a Black civilian, per Chao Xiong and Paul Walsh of the Star-Tribune.
As Spears noted, Chauvin's verdict came on the same day that 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant was shot to death by a police officer in Columbus, Ohio. There have been other police-involved killings that have made national headlines in recent weeks, including Daunte Wright in Minnesota and Andrew Brown Jr. in North Carolina.
"Being a young Black father of two young Black men, I have to endure that now and I have to process that," Beal said. "But they won't grow up anywhere where I grew up. And that's a new challenge for me. But regardless of that fact, it's still scary, and we're still in this environment of there's still no change being brought about."
Beal has taken part in peaceful protests against injustice and has spoken out against police brutality.
He also said last year that he was trying to hold panels with local police officers to help "figure out how we can police our neighborhoods better."