CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Civil-rights advocate and attorney Benjamin Crump, who has represented the families of several high-profile victims of police violence such as Michael Brown and George Floyd, was in Corpus Christi on Wednesday.
Crump headlined the Corpus Christi Bar Association’s annual Law Day Reception as its keynote speaker, saying his message was to encourage people to make a better world for our children than the one we inherited.
"I know we can make a better America," he said. "We can make a more just America if we just work together."
For him, his work alongside the families of Black shooting victims, such as Trayvon Martin, Ahmaud Arbery and Floyd, are steps toward that goal.
Wednesday also saw new developments in the case of the former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin convicted in April of murdering Floyd.
A ruling by Judge Peter Cahill that found aggravating factors in Floyd's death, however, could mean a longer sentence for Chauvin.
Cahill found Chauvin abused his authority as a police officer when he restrained Floyd during the arrest that led to his death last year, and also found that Chauvin treated Floyd with "particular cruelty."
Crump also said we have much more work to do as Americans, but that the goal is one that can be attained.
“We have to be able to listen to even those who are voiceless through their pain," he said.
