Officer found guilty of George Floyd murder
FORMER Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was last night found guilty of murder and manslaughter over the death of George Floyd.
Mr Floyd died last May in Minnesota after Chauvin, a white officer, pinned his knee on the 46-year-old black man’s neck for about nineand-a-half minutes in a case that triggered worldwide protests, violence and a furious re-examination of racism and policing in the US.
The jury, made up of six white people and six black or multi-racial people, deliberated for 10 hours over parts of two days.
Chauvin was found guilty on all charges. They were second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
Chauvin’s face was obscured by a Covid-19 mask, and little reaction could be seen beyond his eyes darting around the courtroom as the jury delivered its verdict.
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 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. US President Joe Biden said earlier he was ‘praying the verdict is the right verdict’ and that he believed the case to be ‘overwhelming.’
He confirmed that he called Mr Floyd’s family on Monday and said he ‘can only imagine the pressure and anxiety they’re feeling.’ “They’re a good family and they’re calling for peace and tranquillity no matter what that verdict is,” the President said.
“I’m praying the verdict is the right verdict. It’s overwhelming, in my view.”