Photo via Gov. Larry Hogan’s YouTube page.
“This was not just a bad cop or bad policing, this was a murder in a police uniform, right? This is beyond anything you can possibly imagine.”
Gov. Larry Hogan addressed the killing of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin and said police reform is needed at a press conference Wednesday.
“There’s no question we’ve got to figure out a way to come up with a better system that’s more accountable,” he said.
Chauvin has been charged with killing Floyd after holding his knee on his neck in Minneapolis. According to a statement of probable cause filed in a Minnesota District Court, Chauvin held his knee on Floyd for almost nine minutes including three minutes after Floyd became unresponsive. Floyd was accused of using a counterfeit $20 bill at a grocery store, which prompted the call to police.
Witness footage of the incident has gone viral, sparking outrage among protestors who are demanding justice for Floyd and other black Americans who have been victims of racism and police brutality.
Hogan said he is incredibly proud of Baltimore City residents who protest peacefully and work with law enforcement to stop violent agitators. He has seen improvements in community relations with police, and residents were even dragging outside agitators over to officers telling them to arrest them.
“That’s quite a bit of trust,” Hogan said.
“We’re [Baltimore City] one of the only cities in America that didn’t have lots of violence, looting and burning and it was because the police and the community leaders and the protestors were working together very, very well and I think that’s a great sign.”
He said the approach taken in Baltimore City is the opposite from the one taken in Washington, D.C., where protestors were tear gassed to make way for President Donald Trump to have a photo op in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church.
“If you look at what happened in Baltimore the other night, it was almost the exact opposite” of what happened in D.C., Hogan said. In Baltimore City, there were no altercations with police and no violence.
“I think our approach is better.”
Hogan said the city has experience with similar situations in the past. In 2015, Freddie Gray died in a Baltimore Police van. While there was not a video of what exactly happened – like there was of Floyd’s death – the incident led to the 2015 Baltimore protests.
“We sort of wrote the book on how to deal with these things in 2015. Now it’s even better. I wouldn’t certainly have taken that approach [spraying peaceful protestors],” Hogan said.
Hogan said he’s glad people can freely protest, but he’s concerned they’re gathering closely together. He encourages people to take advantage of free COVID-19 testing if they were close to a lot of people.
To young people, Hogan said, “I wouldn’t be hugging grandma until you get that test.”
