US braces for Floyd trial

Cop faces music over death that sparked Black Lives Matter movement

MINNEAPOLIS: Residents braced for the opening on Monday of the trial of the white policeman charged with killing George Floyd, a black man whose dying struggles were captured on a video seen around the world.

Derek Chauvin — the now former city officer who used his knee to pin a pleading, gasping Mr Floyd by the neck to the pavement for nearly nine minutes — faces seconddegree murder and manslaughter charges. He has been released on bail and will appear in court.

Mr Floyd’s death laid bare racial divides in the US, sparking months of sometimes violent protests against racial injustice and police brutality, both in the US and abroad.

Jury selection is expected to take up to three weeks, with arguments slated to begin on March 29.

But protesters already gathered near the courthouse on Sunday, with many holding up “Black Lives Matter” placards and demanding “justice for George Floyd”.

The trial is likely to feature gripping testimony, as foreshadowed on Sunday by Benjamin Crump, a prominent civil rights lawyer representing the Floyd family.

“You look at the video, and you hear him say 28 times: ‘I can’t breathe,’ ” Mr Crump said. “The public is begging the police to take the knee off his neck. They say his nose is bleeding; he can’t breathe; he is going unconscious — you’re going to kill him.”

Social distancing rules mean seating will be limited, with the Floyd and Chauvin families given one seat a day.

Three other police officers involved in Mr Floyd’s arrest — Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao — face lesser charges and will be tried separately. All four officers were fired.

Mr Floyd’s arrest was prompted by accusations that he tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill in a nearby store.

Mr Chauvin, a 19-year veteran of the force, is expected to plead not guilty to the murder and manslaughter charges.

“Mr Chauvin acted according to … his training and within his duties as a licensed peace officer of the State of Minnesota,” according to his lawyer, Eric Nelson. “He did exactly as he was trained to do.”

According to Mr Nelson, Mr Floyd died of an overdose of fentanyl. An autopsy did find traces of the drug in Mr Floyd’s system but said the cause of death was “neck compression.” It will take a unanimous verdict to put Mr Chauvin behind bars.

Authorities have mobilised police and the National Guard to provide security and the courthouse has been surrounded by concrete barriers and barbed-wire fencing.