The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Chauvin faces decades in jail for Floyd killing
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been convicted of murder and manslaughter for pinning George Floyd to the pavement with his knee on the black man’s neck.
Chauvin, 45, could now be sent to prison for decades.
The jury comprising six white and six black or multi-racial people came back with its verdict after about 10 hours of deliberations over two days.
President Joe Biden said Chauvin’s conviction “can be a giant step forward” for the nation against systemic racism, while Vicepresident Kamala Harris said: “This is a day of justice.”
Chauvin was found guilty on all charges: seconddegree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
His face was obscured by a Covid-19 mask, and little reaction could be seen beyond his eyes darting around the courtroom.
His bail was immediately revoked and he was led away with his hands cuffed behind his back.
The verdict was read in a courthouse ringed with concrete barriers and razor wire and patrolled by National Guard troops, in a city on edge against another round of unrest – not just because of the Chauvin case but because of the deadly police shooting of a young black man, Daunte Wright, in a Minneapolis suburb on April 11.
The jurors’ identities were kept secret and will not be released until the judge decides it is safe to do so.
Three other former Minneapolis officers charged with aiding and abetting murder in Mr Floyd’s death will stand trial in August.
As celebrations broke out in Minneapolis and elsewhere in the US, President Biden and Ms Harris called Mr Floyd’s family and said of himself and his vice-president:
“We’re all so relieved”. Floyd family lawyer Ben Crump posted video on Twitter of the phone call. Asked by a family member how he was doing, Mr Biden said: “Feeling better now. Nothing is going to make it all better, but at least now there is some justice.”
Mr Floyd, 46, died after being arrested on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill for a pack of cigarettes at a corner shop. He panicked, pleaded that he was claustrophobic and struggled with police when they tried to put him in a squad car. They put him on the ground instead.
The centrepiece of the case was the bystander video of Mr Floyd gasping repeatedly, “I can’t breathe” and onlookers yelling at Chauvin to stop as the officer pressed his knee on or close to Mr Floyd’s neck for what authorities say was nine-and-a-half minutes.