Member-only story

So Grieved A Cloud of Witnesses

Three days into the Derek Chauvin trial, those visceral reactions so many had to the death of George Floyd are once again raw.

Andrew Donaldson
7 min readApr 1, 2021
Released footage of Charles McMillian talking to Derek Chauvin after the George Floyd killing.

There are few experiences in life so visceral as watching death.

Three days into the Derek Chauvin trial, that visceral reaction so many had to the initial video of the death of George Floyd is once again raw. We’ve all seen the excruciating 9 minutes and 29 seconds of video in which the body of George Floyd was between the pavement of 38th and Chicago outside Cup Foods and the knee of Derek Chauvin. The precise moment the spirit of George Floyd left that body, we will never know.

The scene has been relived over the course of the trial. The voices and shouts of the crowd that was there have moved from mere voices to faces and people as they sit to testify for the prosecution. Each has their own unique backgrounds and stories. Each has that one terrible, deadly moment that has linked their lives and brought them back to that scene of death again some 10 months later. Each is getting their moment on the stand, first for the prosecution’s carefully prepared line of questions, then the defense’s efforts to discredit them.

Through it all, there is a theme developing.

--

--

Andrew Donaldson
Andrew Donaldson

Written by Andrew Donaldson

Writer. Mountaineer diaspora. Veteran. Managing Editor @ordinarytimemag on culture & politics, food writing @yonderandhome, Host @heardtellshow & other media

No responses yet