A jury has found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of murder in the death of George Floyd.
After a three-week trial and around 10 hours of jury deliberation, Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
Floyd, a 46-year-old unarmed Black man, died after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee on his neck for nine-and-a-half minutes on May 25, 2020. Chauvin’s knee remained on Floyd’s neck after he stopped pleading that he couldn’t breathe and became unresponsive.
The killing was caught on video, sparking months of civil rights protests against racism and police brutality in the United States and around the world. Bystander footage shot on cellphones was key evidence in the prosecution’s case.
Outside the courthouse in Minneapolis, cheers rose up from gathered crowds after Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill read out the verdicts.
Armed National Guard troops also patrolled Minneapolis and businesses were boarded up in major U.S. cities in preparation for violence in the event of an acquittal. The atmosphere surrounding the case grew more intense on April 11 after a police officer shot and killed 20-year-old Black man Daunte Wright in a Minneapolis suburb.
Following the murder conviction, Chauvin was denied bail and remanded into custody ahead of sentencing.
“I would not call today’s verdict justice, however, because justice implies true restoration,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said during a news conference following the verdict. “But it is accountability.”
BREAKING: Derek Chauvin has been found guilty on all counts: second-degree murder, third-degree muder, and second-degree manslaughter pic.twitter.com/azMc9TE3Ab
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) April 20, 2021
There was cheering, yelling and pandemonium the moment the crowd outside the Hennepin County Government Center learned Chauvin had been convicted of all three felonies. pic.twitter.com/C5nnDoojoe
— Danny Spewak (@DannySpewak) April 20, 2021
