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"Many of us still live in fear": Michelle Obama speaks out on Chauvin verdict

07 May 2021
Dan Ackermann

Former First Lady Michelle Obama told "CBS This Morning" that while "we're all breathing a sigh of relief" after the conviction of Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd, "there's still work to be done."

What she's saying: "And so we, we can't sort of say, 'Great. That happened. Let's move on,'" she told "CBS This Morning" anchor Gayle King in an interview set to air Monday. "I know that people in the Black community don't feel that way because many of us still live in fear."

  • The former first lady also said she worries about her own daughters: "Every time they get in a car by themselves, I worry about what assumption is being made by somebody who doesn't know everything about them. The fact that they are good students and polite girls.
  • "But maybe they're playin' their music a little loud. Maybe somebody sees the back of their head and makes an assumption. The innocent act of getting a license puts fear in our hearts." 
  • "I think we have to talk about it more. And we have to ask our fellow citizens to listen a bit more, and to believe us, and to know we don't wanna be out there marchin'," she said.

Flashback: After a jury convicted the former Minneapolis police officer, the Obamas released a statement saying the jury "did the right thing" but that "true justice is about much more than a single verdict in a single trial."

The big picture: A federal grand jury indicted Chauvin and three other former Minneapolis officers on Friday for civil rights violations related to Floyd's death.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.