George Floyd killing: judge sets $1m bail for ex-officer Derek Chauvin
A judge has set bail at $1.25m for Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who has been charged with second-degree murder in connection to the killing of George Floyd.
Chauvin, 44, appeared in court by video link on Monday to face charges of murder and manslaughter after he was filmed kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, despite his cries of “I can’t breathe.”
He said almost nothing during an 11-minute hearing, and remains detained in Minnesota’s maximum security prison in Oak Park Heights.
Judge Jeannice Redinggranted the prosecutors’ motion to set unconditional bail at $1.25m, or $1m with conditions, which included being lawabiding, making future court appearances and surrendering firearms.
The Minnesota assistant attorney general, Matthew Frank, argued that the “severity of the charges” as well as the strength of public opinion made it more likely that Chauvin would flee if set free, the Star Tribune reported.
Chauvin’s attorney did not object to the bail conditions, raised to $1.25m from $1m without conditions, and to $1m from $750,000 with conditions, the newspaper said.
The hearing came as mass protests sparked by Floyd’s death continued into a third week in dozens of cities and towns across the US. Hundreds of mourners lined up outside a church in Floyd’s native Houston, Texas, to pay their respects. The Republican Texas governor, Greg Abbott, was among the first to view the casket and planned to meet privately with the family later on Monday.
Joe Biden, the former vice-president, travelled to Houston to meet with Floyd’s family and will provide a video message for Floyd’s funeral service. Previous memorials have taken place in Minneapolis and Raeford, North Carolina, near where Floyd was born.
“Listening to one another is what will begin to heal America. That’s just what VP @JoeBiden did with the family of #GeorgeFloyd – for more than an hour,” tweeted the Floyd family’s lawyer, Benjamin Crump. “He listened, heard their pain, and shared in their woe. That compassion meant the world to this grieving family.”
Floyd’s funeral will be on Tuesday, followed by burial at the Houston Memorial Gardens cemetery in suburban Pearland, where he will be laid to rest next to his mother, Larcenia Floyd.
As the doors opened on Monday at the Fountain of Praise church in Houston, the city where Floyd spent most of his life, Floyd was lying in an open gold-colored casket, dressed in a brown suit. His body was escorted to what organizers say will be a six-hour public viewing that was expected to draw thousands of mourners.
Mourners, many wearing masks and T-shirts with the words “I Can’t Breathe,” stood 6ft apart as they paused briefly to view the casket. Some made the sign of the cross as they passed. On the stage behind the casket were two identical murals of Floyd wearing a black cap that read “Houston”, and angel wings drawn behind him.
“With this happening to him, it’s going to make a difference in the world,” said Pam Robinson, who grew up with Floyd in Houston and handed out bottled water to mourners waiting outside in the searing Texas heat. One man in the line, which had no shade, collapsed as temperatures rose above 90F and was taken by stretcher to a cooling station in front of the church.
The mourners came from near and far: Comill Adams said she drove more than seven hours from Oklahoma City with her family, including two children ages eight and 10. They wore matching black T-shirts with “I Can’t Breathe” on the back of the shirts she made specifically for the memorial.
“We had been watching the protests on TV. We’ve been at home feeling outraged. At times it brought us to tears,” Adams said. “The fact this one is causing change, we had to come be a part of.”
Demonstrations in honor of Floyd continued across the country. In Los Angeles, mourners joined four different memorial processions that converged downtown.
Floyd died on 25 May after Chauvin pressed his knee into his neck for more than eight minutes, even after he stopped responding. His death has inspired international protests and drawn new attention to the treatment of African Americans by police and the US criminal justice system.
In Washington on Monday, Democrats in Congress proposed a sweeping overhaul of police oversight and procedures, a potentially far-reaching legislative response to the mass protests
denouncing the deaths of black Americans at the hands of law enforcement.
Chauvin’s next court appearance was set for 29 June.