Most Americans support verdict
An exclusive poll right after the conviction finds bipartisan agreement.
WASHINGTON – In the hours after a guilty verdict was announced in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, an exclusive USA TODAY/Ipsos snap poll found Americans overwhelmingly approved of the jury’s finding.
The survey found 71% of Americans agreed Chauvin was guilty, and most Americans surveyed followed at least some coverage of the three-week trial. When participants were identified by political affiliation, Democrats strongly concurred, at 85%, with Republicans at 55% and independents at 71%. The results were based on an online survey of 1,000 American adults from all states.
Chauvin, who is 45 and white, was found guilty of second- and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man.
“In the verdict, we find a rare moment of bipartisan consensus that George Floyd’s killing was a crime and, therefore, consequences are justified,” said Cliff Young, president at Ipsos. “However, the perception of what actually happened still depends on Americans’ partisan leaning.”
Tuesday’s verdict appeared to bring a catharsis for many Americans in a country wracked by division.
Sixty-two percent of those polled said they would accept the verdict and do nothing further like march or protest; 61% of Democrats and Republicans alike answered that way. About 16% said they would join rallies or protests in accepting the verdict, while a total of 12% said they rejected the verdict, the USA TODAY/Ipsos poll showed.
While most agreed with the verdict’s outcome, the poll found differences in views on the importance of law and order, perhaps further noting partisan differences.
More than half of respondents – 54% – said they believed “law and order is the most important thing to ensure, even if it means limiting peaceful protests.” That answer soared to 73% among Republicans and ticked down to 43% among Democrats. Independents were at exactly half. On the flip side, 38% said the right to protest is paramount, even if violent incidents result, with 53% of Democrats, 36% of independents and 22% of Republicans agreeing.
Respondents’ opinions were mixed in how the terms they chose to describe the crime. Of those surveyed, 40% overall said they believed Floyd’s death was murder – with 26% of Republicans and 51% of Democrats agreeing — while 32% overall viewed the circumstances around his death as negligence. Few – 11% – said they believed Chauvin’s actions were an accident.
As many as 40% of Americans have consumed “a lot” of media about the Chauvin trial, 27% of respondents said they had watched “some” content related to the trial. .
The poll was conducted 5-8 p.m. April 20. It has a confidence interval of 3.2 percentage points. Among those surveyed, 262 described themselves as Republicans, 422 as Democrats and 316 as independents.