Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub issued a public letter following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
Floyd’s death has sent ripples across communities nationwide, spurring peaceful protest, calls for changes to policing, violent riots in large cities, and conversations about race and inequality.
Derek Chauvin, 44, was charged with Floyd’s death days after the incident. A disturbing video showed the white officer kneeling on the black man’s neck as he screamed out for help, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
Below is Weintraub’s letter:
Open Letter to Bucks County’s citizens: We will be judged here by our measured response to George Floyd’s homicide, our lawful protests and our lack of lawless looting and rioting afterwards
Dear Fellow Bucks County Citizens,
Like many of you, I’ve watched George Floyd’s killing on video with feelings of revulsion, sadness and helplessness. Police are sworn to protect and serve ALL citizens, regardless of their race, creed, color, orientation, guilt or innocence. People have the right to express their anger through peaceful assembly, but I don’t understand it when lawless people co-opt peaceful protests by pillaging and burning the communities around them. Thanks to all of you, that has not happened here. I have been in contact with many of the police chiefs in our towns across Bucks County. We all support everyone’s right to peacefully protest injustice anywhere, and will insure that it can be done safely. I am most proud of the peaceful way that all citizens of Bucks County have comported themselves, and treated one another, in the shadow of this terrible national unrest. I pray that we will continue to do so.
Respectfully,
Matt Weintraub
Bucks County District Attorney
