MINNEAPOLIS — Former Minneapolis police officer
Derek Chauvin was convicted on Tuesday of murdering
George Floyd, a milestone in the
fraught racial history of the United States and a rebuke of law enforcement's
treatment of Black Americans.
اضافة اعلان
A 12-member jury found Chauvin, 45, guilty of all three
charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter after
considering three weeks of testimony from 45 witnesses, including bystanders,
police officials and medical experts. Deliberations began on Monday and lasted
just over 10 hours.
In a confrontation captured on video, Chauvin, a white
veteran of the police force, pushed his knee into the neck of Floyd, a 46-year-old
Black man in handcuffs, for more than nine minutes on May 25, 2020. Chauvin and
three fellow officers were attempting to arrest Floyd, accused of using a fake
$20 bill to buy cigarettes at a grocery store.
The jurors remained still and quiet as the verdict was read.
Chauvin, wearing a gray suit with a blue tie as well as a light-blue face mask,
nodded and stood quickly when the judge ruled that his bail was revoked. He was
taken out of the courtroom in handcuffs and placed in the custody of the Hennepin
County sheriff.
The conviction triggered a wave of relief and reflection not
only across the United States but in countries around the world.
"It was a murder in the full light of day and it ripped
the blinders off for the whole world to see the systemic racism,"
President Joe Biden said in televised remarks. "This can be a giant step
forward in the march toward justice in America."
Outside the courthouse, a crowd of several hundred people
erupted in cheers when the verdict was announced - a scene that unfolded in
cities across the country. Car horns honked, demonstrators blocked traffic and
chanted: "George Floyd" and "All three counts."
At George Floyd Square in Minneapolis, the intersection
where Floyd was killed and which was later named in his honor, people screamed,
applauded and some threw dollar bills in the air in celebration.
While celebrating the verdict, protesters called for justice
in the case of Daunte Wright, a Black man who was fatally shot by a police
officer after a routine traffic stop on April 11, just a few miles from where
Chauvin stood trial. Kimberly Potter, who has turned in her badge, has been
charged with manslaughter in that case.
George Floyd's brother Philonise, speaking at a news
conference with several family members, said: "We are able to breathe
again" after the verdict, but he added the fight for justice was not over.
"We have to protest because it seems like this is a
never-ending cycle," he said.
'First step towards justice'
Chauvin could now face up to 40 years in prison. While the
US criminal justice system and juries have long given leeway and some legal
protection to police officers who use violence to subdue civilians, the
Minneapolis jurors found that Chauvin had crossed the line and used excessive
force.
Chauvin's defense team did not immediately respond to a
request for comment on the verdict but is considered likely to appeal the
conviction.
In a trial that opened on March 29, the defense argued that
Chauvin behaved as any "reasonable police officer" would have under
those circumstances, and sought to raise doubts about the cause of Floyd's
death.
In his comments, Biden emphasized his support for
legislation "to root out unconstitutional policing," including the
George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which has been passed by the US House
of Representatives and seeks to increase accountability for law enforcement
misconduct.
The Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis said in a
statement published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune that "there are no
winners in this case, and we respect the jury's decision," adding:
"We need to stop the divisive comments, and we all need to do better to
create a Minneapolis we all love."
The intersection of race and law enforcement has long been
contentious in the United States, underscored by a series of deadly incidents
involving white police officers and Black people in recent years.
Floyd's death prompted protests against racism and police
brutality in many US cities and other countries last summer, even as the world
grappled with the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris watched the verdict
being read out along with staff in the White House's private dining room, the
White House said. Biden, Harris and first lady Jill Biden all spoke with
Philonise Floyd.
"Nothing is going to make it all better but at least
... now there's some justice," Biden told the Floyd family, according to a
video posted to Twitter.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison told reporters that
the verdict was a "first step towards justice" and should serve as a
launching point for police reform. "We need to use this verdict as an
inflection point."
Hours of testimony
Under Minnesota sentencing guidelines, Chauvin faces 12-1/2
years in prison for his murder conviction as a first-time criminal offender.
Prosecutors could seek a longer sentence of up to 40 years
if Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill determines that there were
"aggravating factors." Cahill said Chauvin's sentencing was likely
eight weeks away.
The Minneapolis Police Department fired Chauvin and the
three other officers the day after Floyd's murder. The three others are due to
face trial later this year on aiding-and-abetting charges.
Witnesses called by prosecutors included a cardiologist, a
pulmonologist and a forensic pathologist, who testified that videos and autopsy
results confirmed that Chauvin killed Floyd by starving him of oxygen.
Also among the prosecution witnesses was Darnella Frazier, a
teenager who used her cellphone to make a video depicting Floyd's ordeal -
images that catalyzed the subsequent protests. Floyd can be heard crying out
for his mother and telling officers he could not breathe.
Other eyewitnesses described the horror and trauma of
watching Floyd die in front of them. Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo
testified that Chauvin's actions during the arrest represented an egregious
breach of his training.
The jurors, who consisted of four white women, two white
men, three Black men, one Black woman and two multiracial women, were
sequestered during deliberations.
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