SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday afternoon issued the following statement upon a Minnesota jury issuing a guilty verdict on all three counts against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin:

“New Mexico has grieved alongside the rest of the nation and the world over the unconscionable killing of George Floyd as he begged for breath in the street last year. We have grieved with each new instance of injustice in the interim. And while no courtroom verdict will ever bring Mr. Floyd back to his family, to his children, and while no guilty verdict will ever fill the hole in the hearts of those who have loved someone taken from them in such a grievous act of injustice, today’s decision does give us all hope that our system is capable of achieving some measure of accountability. We can work to ensure, now and forever after, that accountability will be realized by communities and individuals and families that have been wronged by those in positions of authority. I continue to pray for George Floyd’s family, for peace and for equal justice under the law for all Americans.”