Stand as a Witness — and Join the Bouquet of Humanity

In the final closing argument of Derek Chauvin’s trial, prosecution attorney Jerry Blackwell referred to the witnesses as a “bouquet of humanity.”

It brings to mind the well known scripture in Doctrine and Covenants section 14: “And it shall come to pass, that if you shall ask the Father in my name, in faith believing, you shall receive the Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance, that you may stand as a witness of the things of which you shall both hear and see, and also that you may declare repentance unto this generation.”

Eleven months ago, when George Floyd was killed, I asked that the women of MWEG watch the video posted by Darnella Frazier. At that time I wanted to make you all witnesses — and many of you were. In Mr. Blackwell’s summation, we re-learned the power of being witnesses.

Mr. Blackwell referred to the witnesses as “symbols of love and caring.” This is because those people wanted to intervene, and so they did what they could. When I asked you to watch this video, it was in love and caring and wanting to be sure we would all intervene in whatever ways we could.

We did this by writing postcards and letters, speaking out, and attending protests, rallies, and vigils. Some participated simply by refusing to buy into the nonsensical narratives that swirled around this case in the months before it began (of Mr. Floyd having died of a drug overdose or Mr. Floyd having resisted arrest in such a way that made this justified). Thank you for looking. 

The Lord asks us to do the hard things. For many of us, watching this video was a hard thing. For me, watching the trial was a hard thing. I have not yet been able to watch all of it. At times, I was filled with anger. At times, I was filled with despair. At times, I needed to take a break. But I did know I would watch the closing arguments. The closing arguments gave me hope. My hope was that, for once, a verdict would come down that would say what so many Black and other oppressed people have been saying for centuries: We are telling the truth when we say that there are atrocities in this world and that they occur here. We are telling the truth.

“Wherefore, be not deceived, but continue in steadfastness, looking forth for the heavens to be shaken, and the earth to tremble and to reel to and fro as a drunken man, and for the valleys to be exalted, and for the mountains to be made low, and for the rough places to become smooth — and all this when the angel shall sound his trumpet” (D&C 49:23).

In a way, it is fitting that this bouquet of humanity — made up of men and women and brown people and Black people and white people — stood on this corner, aged and young, to be witnesses. These people did not turn away from a hard thing. We heard their pain and fear while they testified.

And if we are truly to mourn with those who mourn and comfort those who need comfort, then we should mourn the loss of innocence of a 9-year-old child. We should mourn the lack of trust that a community endured. We should mourn for the humiliation of those brave witnesses to be characterized by the defense attorney as unruly, angry, agitated. In that defense, even the lawyer could not see that these were humanity’s people. But we know that when we are doing what the Lord wants, when we are righteous, we may be persecuted. The Lord must have wanted these people to be at this place to stand as witnesses so that His work could move forward on the earth. His work of bringing justice to the oppressed and the marginalized. 

“But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind” (Job 12:7).

Across the thin blue line stepped Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo and other police personnel to be witnesses. They, too, were brave. They defied the party line of the police unions, of the brotherhood, of the comrades in arms to say this is not the way we should be. They were brave in their swift discipline of Chauvin. They were unafraid to speak the truth and have set a fine example for the officers who work underneath them. Their leadership will surely encourage better actions and more humanity in their department. Their testimony, hopefully, will make the residents of their city feel safer, knowing there is accountability and not coverups.

“We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion” (D&C 121:39).

Today’s leaders must translate their earnestness into action. One of the things that was most vexing to me as I watched the original video was that there were five officers on the scene, and neither their training nor their personal ethics were enough to motivate any one of them to stop what was clearly an assault against a handcuffed man.

I am hopeful that the verdict will help police officers moderate themselves better. I am hopeful that the leaders we saw in this trial will initiate procedures that make it socially acceptable in police culture to intervene, even and especially against a fellow officer who is doing wrong. This would be true repentance for the police force.

“And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not” (Isaiah 58:10).

We can become, together, a “bouquet of humanity.”

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Charlotte Mountain is the anti-racism specialist for Mormon Women for Ethical Government.

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