Derek Chauvin verdict summary
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty Tuesday of three charges in the death of George Floyd: second-degree unintentional murder, third- degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.
Chauvin, who is white, was convicted in the death of George Floyd. On 25 May, Chauvin pressed his knee against the neck of Floyd, who is Black, for nine minutes and 29 seconds.
While Chauvin’s knee was pressed against his neck, Floyd was also restrained and subdued prone against the pavement. Floyd died from this encounter.
Here are some key moments from today’s developments surrounding the verdict:
- Chauvin will be sentenced in eight weeks, judge Peter Cahill said in court shortly after reading the verdict.
- Chauvin was remanded, meaning he will not be out on bail while awaiting sentencing. He was handcuffed and led out of the courtroom moments after the verdict was read.
- Under Minnesota law, Chauvin will only be sentenced on the top count, second-degree unintentional murder. The maximum sentence for that is 40 years. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper, the “presumptive sentence” for this charge is 12 1⁄2 years. But, prosecutors can seek an “aggravated sentence” that goes above this guideline due to the “particular cruelty” of Chauvin’s actions toward Floyd.
- George Floyd’s sister, LaTonya Floyd, reportedly said of the verdict: “I feel like heaven is standing on my shoulders ... My brother got justice, and that’s very rare.”
- George Floyd’s younger brother, Philonise, said there was more work to be done in their fight for justice. “We will have to do this for life,” he said. “I am going to put up a fight every day ... because I am not just fighting for George any more.”
- Darnella Frazier, who was age 17 when she used her cellphone to video-record Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck, has shared her relief about the jury’s decision. “I just cried so hard,” she said in a Facebook post. “This last hour my heart was beating so fast, I was so anxious, anxiety bussing through the roof.” She also wrote: “George Floyd we did it!! Justice has been served.”
- President Joe Biden and Vice-president Kamala Harris addressed the nation following Chauvin’s verdict. Biden commented: “It was a murder in the full light of day, and it ripped the blinders off for the whole world to see.” Biden remarked that systemic racism is “a stain on our nation’s soul”.
- Moments before Chauvin’s verdict was read, police in Columbus, Ohio, fatally shot a 15-year-old girl.
That’s it for our live coverage of the Chauvin verdict. We will have updates on Minneapolis and elsewhere across America tomorrow.
Updated
Minneapolis police department chief Medaria Arradondo, who testified against Derek Chauvin at trial, saying the former officer’s use-of-force breached regulations, has commented on Tuesday’s guilty verdict:
I want to acknowledge and thank the jurors on this case for their immense responsibility and honorable civic duty. The verdict has been read and I respect the process and the decision.
I would like to thank the men and women of the Minneapolis police department as well as their families. The past year has been difficult and challenging yet they have continued to show up and serve our community with the respect and dignity they deserve. To our law enforcement partners and the Minnesota National Guard, I want to thank them for their commitment and dedication to serve our city during this time.
We recognize that our community is hurting, and hearts are heavy with many emotions. However, I have hope. The community that I was born and raised in and that we serve is resilient and together, we can find our moment to begin to heal. To the Floyd family, may peace and comfort guide you along the way.
We need calm, safety and peace in our communities, today and in the days to come.
We fully respect and support people’s lawful exercise of their first amendment rights. We ask for people to be peaceful and lawful in their actions. Now is the time to use our humanity to lift each other up and not tear our city down.
We have a commitment and an obligation to serve our community and keep our citizens safe. The officers of the Minneapolis police department will continue to do just that; every day and every night we will strive to do our very best to earn your trust.
Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo’s statement: pic.twitter.com/Ct0rJVrUxr
— Tony Webster (@webster) April 21, 2021
Updated
Guardian correspondent Gabrielle Canon recounts how George Floyd’s family responded to news of Derek Chauvin’s conviction.
From Canon’s latest:
“I feel like heaven is standing on my shoulders,” [Floyd’s sister] LaTonya told a local news crew that had joined her and other members of her family watching the trial from Houston, Texas. “My brother got justice, and that’s very rare” she said, struggling to speak. “He didn’t deserve that. He didn’t deserve none of that.”
LaTonya also reportedly commented:
“I just miss him so much. I am so hurt right now, but I am so happy,” she said after the verdict was read. “When I watch this man get handcuffed in court behind his back, just like he did my brother, he is not in control any more. He has no power. But my brother do. My brother do.”
George’s younger brother, Rodney, said on MSNBC that Chauvin’s guilty verdict was for “everyone that’s been in this situation”.
“We will have to do this for life,” said Philonise Floyd, George’s younger brother, who was in court, of the verdict. “I am going to put up a fight every day … Because I am not just fighting for George any more.”
Updated
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is investigating a Columbus police officer’s fatal shooting of a 15-year-old girl Tuesday afternoon. This shooting came moments before a judge in Minneapolis read the guilty verdict in former police officer Derek Chauvin’s murder case in the death of George Floyd during an arrest.
The local ABC station said that family had identified the girl as Makiyah Bryant.
According to the Columbus Dispatch, police received a 911 call around 4.35pm local time on the city’s south-east side. The call was about an alleged attempted stabbing. Officers arrived at 4.45pm local time and a police-involved shooting was reported shortly thereafter, the newspaper said.
Hazel Bryant, who identified herself as the girl’s aunt, told the newspaper that she lived in a nearby foster home. The teen reportedly got into a dispute with someone else at the foster home, Hazel Bryant reportedly said.
Hazel Bryant claimed that her niece had a knife, but insisted that she dropped it before being shot multiple times by an officer, the newspaper said.
By 8.30pm, a crowd of about 50 people convened near the shooting scene.
“We don’t get to celebrate nothing,” KC Taynor reportedly said of Chauvin’s guilty verdict. “...In the end, you know what, you can’t be Black.”
“Why did they kill this baby?” Kiara Yakita, the founder of the Black Liberation Movement Central Ohio, reportedly commented.
The Columbus mayor, Andrew Ginther, commented on Twitter: “This afternoon a young woman tragically lost her life. We do not know all of the details. There is body-worn camera footage of the incident. We are working to review it as soon as possible. BCI is on the scene conducting an independent investigation . . .”
Updated
Police fatally shoot 15-year-old girl in Ohio
Columbus, Ohio, police fatally shot a 15-year-old girl Tuesday afternoon, shortly before the guilty verdict was handed down in Derek Chauvin’s trial.
Makiyah Bryant, 15, was shot at around 4.30 pm local time, and died shortly after she was taken to the hospital, according to reports.
Police were reportedly at the scene after a 911 call about an attempted stabbing.
Protestors have since gathered at the scene, to chant, “Black lives matter!” and “No justice, no peace!”.
The shooting occurred as activists warned that accountability for Chauvin amounted to inadequate justice for George Floyd.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Updated
The governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, has issued a statement about the conviction of Derek Chauvin echoing many other officials’ comments—that today marks an important shift in police accountability, but does not mark the end of reform efforts.
“Today’s verdict is an important step forward for justice in Minnesota. The trial is over, but our work has only begun,” Walz says in a statement posted to Twitter.
“True justice for George only comes through real, system change to prevent this from happening again,” the statement continues. “And the tragic death of Daunte Wright this week serves as a heartbreaking reminder that we still have so much more work to do to get there.”
— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) April 20, 2021
Darnella Frazier, who was 17 last May when she used her cellphone to record Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck until he died, has shared her joy and relief about the guilty verdict.
“I just cried so hard,” she said in a Facebook post. “This last hour my heart was beating so fast, I was so anxious, anxiety bussing through the roof.”
“After four thank-you’s in all caps, her emoji-laden post, which included prayer hands, hearts and a fist of solidarity, ended with, ‘George Floyd we did it!! Justice has been served’,” writes Guardian correspondent Gabrielle Canon.
Canon notes:
Frazier had been on her way to the convenience store with her nine-year-old cousin on 25 May, Memorial Day, when she happened upon the incident. It still haunts her, she told the court, testifying that she wished she had been able to do more. After the video went viral, she also was subject to harassment on social media.
“It’s been nights I stayed up apologizing and apologizing to George Floyd for not doing more and not physically interacting and not saving his life,” she said.
Frazier has previously said of her decision to film the encounter: “It was like a natural instinct, honestly.”
“The world needed to see what I was seeing. Stuff like this happens in silence too many times,” she has told the Star Tribune newspaper.
Updated
Derek Chauvin will be sentenced in eight weeks following his conviction Tuesday on second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd. So, it makes sense to ask: what will Chauvin’s sentence be?
The answer requires a bit of explanation. Second-degree unintentional murder has a maximum sentence of 40 years, third-degree murder has a maximum sentence of 25 years, and second-degree manslaughter has a maximum sentence of 10 years, in Minnesota.
However, Chauvin’s possible maximum sentence can’t be calculated just by adding each of those up. Explains Minneapolis’ Star Tribune newspaper: “Because the charges stem from a single act, Chauvin will be sentenced for the most serious charge, second-degree unintentional murder.”
More, Minnesota state sentencing guidelines include “presumptive sentences” for each count, the newspaper says. The “presumptive sentence” for Chauvin’s highest charge, second-degree unintentional murder, is 12 1⁄2 years.
The prosecution can try to get an “aggravated sentence” that exceeds this recommendation, however, because of the “particular cruelty” Chauvin exhibited toward Floyd.
The Star Tribune also notes that in Minnesota, persons convicted of felonies do two-thirds of their sentences in prison, and spend the remaining third on “supervised release”.
Updated
Representative Karen Bass, the Democrat of California who first introduced the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in the aftermath of Floyd’s death last summer, has said she hopes the verdict today will reenergize efforts to pass the police reform bill into law.
“We need to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, and put it on President Biden’s desk,” she has said, speaking with the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) at the steps of the House of Representatives. “Because that will be the first step to transforming policing.”
The bill has passed the House this year by 220-212 vote, with no Republican support – and it faces a major hurdle in the Senate, where Republicans would block it with a filibuster.
The Chauvin verdict “gives us hope” for some sort of policing bill, she says. Bass has been in talks with Republican lawmakers to develop a bipartisan compromise and hopes a deal can be reached “by the time we hit the anniversary of George Floyd’s death” on 25 May, she tells reporters.
Vice-president Kamala Harris, in addressing the US moments ago following Chauvin’s guilty verdict, has said that she and President Joe Biden will “continue to urge the Senate to pass this legislation”.
The verdict comes as a relief to some lawmakers. Following the announcement of the verdict, Bass hugged Gwen Moore, a Democratic representative of Wisconsin and fellow member of the CBC. “I was knocked off my feet,” Moore tells Bass.
.@RepKarenBass and @RepGwenMoore in an emotional embrace on the heels of the Chauvin guilty verdict.
— Kadia Goba (@kadiagoba) April 20, 2021
“I was so stunned. I was knocked off my feet. I thought maybe we would get manslaughter,” Moore said to Bass before hugging her. pic.twitter.com/nNwuuOQewR
Updated
President Joe Biden has said, in his address to the nation, that “today’s verdict is a step forward”.
“Nothing can ever bring their brother, their father back,” Biden says of George Floyd’s death. But, Derek Chauvin’s guilty verdict “can be a giant step forward in the march toward justice in America”.
“But let’s also be clear: Such a verdict is also much too rare. For so many people, it seems like it took a unique and extraordinary convergence of factors.”
“It was a murder in the full light of day, and it ripped the blinders off for the whole world to see,” Biden remarks, saying systemic racism is “a stain on our nation’s soul”.
"It was a murder in the full light of day and it ripped the blinders off for the whole world to see" systemic racism, Biden says. The systemic racism is "a stain on our nation's soul."
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) April 20, 2021
Updated
Vice-president Kamala Harris has addressed the nation following the guilty verdict in Derek Chauvin’s murder case.
“Today, we feel a sigh of relief. Still, it cannot take away the pain. A measure of justice isn’t the same as equal justice,” she says. “This verdict brings us a step closer and the fact is, we still have work to do. We still must reform the system.”
“We are all a part of George Floyd’s legacy, and our job now is to honor it and to honor him,” she says.
President Joe Biden is now speaking.
Updated
The Guardian’s Lois Beckett reports that crowds in Minneapolis are ecstatic about Derek Chauvin’s guilty verdict.
“Literal dancing in the streets,” Beckett writes of some who have gathered downtown to celebrate.
Literal dancing in the streets, Minneapolis pic.twitter.com/A2MK4RLE9C
— Lois Beckett (@loisbeckett) April 20, 2021
“I am so excited and filled with joy,” says Janiya Edwards, 18, of the verdict.
“Over the last year, I’d lose hope. I didn’t think they were going to convict him.”
“I do feel a little more confidence in the justice system,” she adds.
“I am so excited and filled with joy,” Janiya Edwards, 18, told me. “Over the last year, I’d lose hope. I didn’t think they were going to convict him.”
— Lois Beckett (@loisbeckett) April 20, 2021
“I do feel a little more confidence in the justice system,” she added. pic.twitter.com/vrQq3phGkZ
Updated
George Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, has now commented publicly on the verdict at a press conference.
Danny Spewak, of KARE 11, reports him as saying: “I’m not just fighting for George anymore. I’m fighting for everyone around this world … Today, we are able to breathe again.”
Updated
The Guardian’s Oliver Laughland is reporting from George Floyd Square, in Minneapolis.
Cheers rang out when the crowd learned that Derek Chauvin was convicted on three counts for killing Floyd during a 25 May arrest.
Had some connection issues. But here’s the moment from George Floyd square when the guilty verdicts were read out: pic.twitter.com/cykuA1TDvS
— Oliver Laughland (@oliverlaughland) April 20, 2021
They’ve changed the billboard at People’s Way: “Justice Served?” pic.twitter.com/lIfNQTGrz5
— Oliver Laughland (@oliverlaughland) April 20, 2021
Updated
Courteney Ross, George Floyd’s girlfriend, has called for celebration following the guilty verdict.
“Thank God for giving us this moment,” Ross says outside the Minneapolis courthouse where a judge recently revealed Derek Chauvin’s conviction. “We needed it. This city needed it.”
“His spirit is here with you all,” she remarks of Floyd.
“It’s a moment to celebrate,” she says to the crowd.“Take tonight just to be glad that we have one day of victory. This battle is going to continue.”
“Floyd was one man,” she says. “George Floyd is a movement.”
“Put your arms around somebody today,” she adds. “Can we just all love each other for a moment?”
Ross says there are so many other families of Black men killed by the police in Minnesota who still need justice.
She takes a moment to pray, surrounded by raised cell phone cameras. Behind her voice is the constant sound of car horns honking in celebration.
Later, the crowd cheers again as someone shouts that Chauvin’s bail has been revoked and that he will stay in custody until sentencing.
President Joe Biden and vice president Kamala Harris have called George Floyd’s family after a guilty verdict came down against Derek Chauvin.
In a video of the call posted by Floyd family attorney Ben Crump, Biden can be heard saying he hopes that they are feeling better now, though “nothing is going to make it all better but at least … now there’s some justice”.
“We’re going to do a lot done,” Biden can also be heard saying, in apparent reference to police reform.
President Biden and VP Harris call the Floyd family after the GUILTY verdict! Thank you @POTUS & @VP for your support! We hope that we can count on you for the police reform we NEED in America! ✊🏾 pic.twitter.com/cg4V2D5tlI
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) April 20, 2021
Harris tells the family that “this is a day of justice in America”, saying that they are “real leaders at this moment where we needed you”.
Updated
At a press conference after Derek Chauvin’s guilty verdict was read, Keith Ellison, Minnesota attorney general, has thanked the community for giving his prosecutors the opportunity to pursue the case. Ellison has emphasized, however, that more work must be done.
“I want to thank the community for giving us that time, and allowing us to do that work,” he says. “That long, hard, painstaking work has culminated today.”
“I would not call today’s verdict justice, however, because justice implies true restoration, but it is accountability – which is the first step towards justice.”
“George Floyd mattered,” he says. “He was loved by his family and his friends. His death shocked the conscience of our community, our country, the whole world,” Ellison says. “But that isn’t why he mattered. He mattered because he was a human being.”
“This has to end, we need justice,” Ellison says.
“This verdict reminds us that we must make enduring enduring, systemic, societal change.”
Updated
The Council on American-Islamic Relations’s Minnesota chapter has commented on Derek Chauvin’s guilty verdict.
Jaylani Hussein, CAIR Minnesota’s executive director, says in a statement: “We are encouraged by the jury’s decision to convict Derek Chauvin. It is by no means the end of our efforts to build a more just and equitable Minnesota and nation, but it is an important milestone on our journey and a step to healing deep, generational traumas.”
“While today’s verdict is encouraging, it does not diminish the urgency with which we must continue our efforts to combat the epidemic of police violence in our communities,” Hussein’s statement says. “George Floyd received justice today in that courtroom, now we must continue advocating for justice for all, everywhere: in the legislature, where we’re fighting to pass bills to increase police oversight and end qualified immunity, in our own communities, where we come together to heal and build trust and mutual understanding, and in the streets, where every day we are organizing, marching, and strengthening our movement.”
By the way, here’s a recap on what the charges meant:
Here's a rundown of what the prosecution has to prove to convict Chauvin of three charges: pic.twitter.com/RbQnh4mXol
— The Recount (@therecount) April 20, 2021
Updated
We now have a pool report detailing the scene inside judge Peter Cahill’s courtroom for the verdict in Derek Chauvin’s case.
Philonise Floyd, George Floyd’s brother, was sitting “with his head bowed and his hands folded in front of his face, perhaps in prayer”, prior to the reading of the verdict.
Cahill enters the courtroom around 4.04pm local time. The jurors walk in, “all looking serious, none appearing teary”, per the pool report. As Cahill reads the verdict, which found Chauvin guilty on all counts, the former Minneapolis police officer “stares at the empty witness podium”.
Cahill ultimately thanks jurors for “heavy duty jury service” and they leave. Chauvin stands, “hands clasped behind his back”. When a deputy handcuffs Chauvin, he doesn’t resist.
Philonise Floyd hugs prosecutor Jerry Blackwell, Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison, and the other prosecutors, the pool report says.
Here is a tweet from Keith Boykin, which speaks for itself.
Derek Chauvin handcuffed. pic.twitter.com/D0KoTJllE6
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) April 20, 2021
Updated
The Guardian’s Lois Beckett is outside the Minneapolis courthouse where judge Peter Cahill just announced a guilty verdict in Derek Chauvin’s murder case.
Beckett reports that the crowd has shouted “Guilty!” once news emerged. There have been huge cheers, with people shouting “Yes!”
The crowd has chanted “George Floyd!” and “all three counts!” People have been screaming and crying.
“Whose victory? Our victory!” the crowd has chanted. Cars driving by have honked their horns in celebration.
“Don’t let anyone tell you protest doesn’t work,” a man has told the crowd through a bullhorn.
Updated
The attorneys for George Floyd’s family have released statements following the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
Attorney Ben Crump commented: “Painfully earned justice has arrived for George Floyd’s family and the community here in Minneapolis, but today’s verdict goes far beyond this city and has significant implications for the country and even the world. Justice for Black America is justice for all of America. This case is a turning point in American history for accountability of law enforcement and sends a clear message we hope is heard clearly in every city and every state.”
“Today’s verdict is so critical in that it not only holds Derek Chauvin accountable for his horrific actions, but it reinforces significant police reforms underway in Minneapolis including use-of-force reporting, a requirement to keep body-worn cameras on, and a policy for officers to de-escalate non-threatening encounters by disengaging or walking away. Now we call on Minnesota state lawmakers to pass ” said attorney Antonio M Romanucci.
Attorney L Chris Stewart said: “Today the world had its hope and faith restored in the American justice system. All that people crave is accountability when an officer kills a Black American. For far too long that had never happened. Now George Floyd’s soul can finally rest in peace. Justice has been served.”
Lawyer Jeff Storms similarly stated: “The impact of George Floyd’s death on Minneapolis is impossible to explain, but today’s verdict is an important step toward healing. The community here has struggled to create accountability for officers who have used excessive force over many years and too many lives and caused so much pain and suffering. This jury has sent a clear and direct message that this can never happen again.”
Updated
Derek Chauvin was directed out of the courtroom in handcuffs moments after the guilty verdict was read in his murder case.
Derek Chauvin has been remanded in the custody of the Hennepin County Sheriff.
Chauvin guilty of manslaughter
Derek Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter.
Updated
Chauvin guilty of third-degree murder
Derek Chauvin was found guilty of third-degree murder.
Updated
Chauvin guilty of second-degree murder
Derek Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder.
Updated
The judge in Derek Chauvin’s murder trial has taken the bench. We expect the verdict will be read momentarily.
Updated
The jury and all other parties in Derek Chauvin’s murder trial have arrived in the courtroom, where the verdict will be read soon.
All parties are inside the courtroom for the reading of the verdict.
— Julia Jenaé (@JuliaCourtTV) April 20, 2021
Crowds are growing around the courthouse.#DerekChauvinTrial #GeorgeFloyd @CourtTV https://t.co/hMx485Qoi0 pic.twitter.com/Ip7vFCS9Dx
As we await the verdict, crowds continue to gather outside the Hennepin County Government Center, where proceedings took place.
Crowds are chanting: “What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!”
Crowds chant outside the Hennepin County Government Center waiting for the verdict in the #DerekChauvinTrial. The court will be open by 4 pm. There will be a lot of emotions no matter what the verdict is. pic.twitter.com/Wc1p3ec8Aa
— KaMaria B. (@KamOnCam_) April 20, 2021
Courteney Ross, George Floyd’s girlfriend, just spoke outside the court house in downtown Minneapolis.
She gave wrenching testimony during the trial.
“I love him,” Ross just said. “He was a man with a big heart. He was funny, and silly and prayerful. He was out of this world.”
She broke off, weeping.
Then she said: “Floyd was a big man, he was too big for this Earth. He is over all of us right now.”
After sobbing, then she giggled: “I called him Floyd, when people say ‘George’ I’m, like, who’s that?”
A reporter asked her what she thought Floyd would make of all this.
“What I know Floyd would want would be all of us, all people would be coming together. This is not a time for separation, no time for us to blame or hurt each other.”
She predicted: “I know the verdict is coming back Guilty.”
The Associated Press reports that Derek Chauvin has returned to the courthouse for the verdict in his case.
The verdict in Derek Chauvin’s murder trial could come at any minute now. It is expected that the verdict will be read between now and 4pm local time in Minnesota. That’s 5 pm EST, 10 pm in the UK, and 9 pm GMT.
Jurors reached verdict after nine hours of deliberations
Jurors in Derek Chauvin’s murder trial, who have reached a verdict, came to their decision after about nine hours.
The 12-member panel, which has been sequestered since deliberations began Monday afternoon, weighed three weeks of testimony—from 44 witnesses—during this brief period.
It’s impossible to tell whether this timeframe means that the verdict will be unfavorable or favorable to Chauvin. Past data on deliberation time aren’t predictive, but they are interesting in terms of what they might say about jurors’ thought process.
Poynter explains that “quick verdicts generally favor the defendant. As hours stretch on, it signals that jurors are taking evidence seriously and consider the evidence to have at least some validity.”
Citing a lengthy study of deliberation duration, Poynter explains that criminal convictions tend to require more time, since the burden of proof is on prosecutors.
Poynter also references New York Times reporting that looks at deliberation time with past police misconduct cases. The Times explains:
It took a jury in Chicago less than eight hours in 2018 to convict Jason Van Dyke, a former Chicago police officer, of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm in the death of Laquan McDonald, a Black teenager who was carrying a knife but heading away from the police.
Minnesota Public Radio has previously reported that a jury convicted former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor in the July 2017 killing of Justine Ruszczyk after around 11 hours of deliberations.
Poynter also notes that other examples abound “including from in 2003, when a jury in Oakland, California, deliberated 55 days before acquitting three police officers accused of assaulting and falsely arresting residents.”
So, in short: we don’t know what this short turnaround means for Chauvin’s case.
Updated
Guardian US will be bringing you a live stream here in this dedicated blog when the verdict is read in court, in just over 20 minutes. So you can watch the verdict being read LIVE.
Also, we have a team of our journalists poised in Minneapolis to bring you all the news today and in the coming days.
The jury reaching a verdict on former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for killing George Floyd signals the conclusion of a historic police brutality trial and a key moment for policing and for the battle for racial equality in America.
Observers have talked about this case being so significant that it will stand as a watershed between the way law enforcement was held to account in the US before George Floyd was pinned by the neck under Chauvin’s knee, and after.
From the time bystander video of that drawn-out death as Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, begged for his life while Chauvin, who is white, looked defiantly into the camera, two major things shifted.
First, the Black Lives Matter movement – already battling for an end to disproportionate police killings of Black people, and for justice and equity – drove a massive new civil rights uprising that spread from Minneapolis, across the US and internationally.
It inspired marches and largely-peaceful protests coast to coast, from small towns in rural areas to America’s biggest cities.
Second, vital chunks of the traditional so-called blue wall of silence, where police departments harbor one of their own after wrongdoing and fend off demands for accountability, crumbled.
After Medaria Arradondo, the Minneapolis police chief, saw the viral bystander video of Floyd’s death, things moved quickly.
He publicly called Floyd’s killing a murder. He fired and had arrested Derek Chauvin and the three other police officers who were involved in violently arresting Floyd on suspicion of the misdemeanor of using a fake $20 bill in a Minneapolis corner store.
And then he was one of the star witnesses for the prosecution at Chauvin’s murder trial, among a string of serving Minneapolis police officers who testified against their former colleague.
Arradondo, the first Black police chief in the history of Minneapolis, had previously sued the department for discrimination when he was struggling to rise through the ranks.
He told the jury he “vehemently disagreed” with Chauvin’s actions, the officer had in “no way, shape or form” followed regulations or training policies and had shown a disregard for police principle to respect “the sanctity of life”.
Updated
There are 3,000 National Guard troops deployed in Minneapolis and St Paul, often known collectively as the Twin Cities, in Minnesota.
There were huge protests across the cities last May after George Floyd was killed and throughout the summer, some of which spilled over into violence, especially initially.
The region has been on edge not only about whether there will be violent unrest but also whether justice will be done in the death of Floyd, one of so many Black people killed by police in America.
Just nine days ago, police in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center shot dead 20-year-old Daunte Wright after a traffic stop.
The Twin Cities have been heavily fortified for weeks, with law enforcement, razor wire, concrete barriers, multi-layer high fences and no-go areas everywhere.
Judge Peter Cahill even said that if the verdict came in in the evening that it would not be read until the day after, to avoid a verdict being read after dark and sparking dangerous protests.
But here we are on a chilly, cloudy afternoon in Minnesota, where snow flurries and brisk winds have kept protesters who have been outside the court throughout the trial, and lately in Brooklyn Center, chilled to the bone.
The jury in Derek Chauvin’s murder trial, which has recently reached a verdict, is weighing three charges against the former Minneapolis police officer in the death of George Floyd: second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.
Chauvin could be convicted on all three of the charges, some of the charges, or none of the charges. They each relate to a different sense of Chauvin’s mindset at the time of his encounter with Floyd during a 25 May 2020 arrest.
“The state does not need to prove that he intended to kill George Floyd,” prosecutor Steve Schleicher said during his closing on Monday in explaining to jurors how they must consider the charges.
So what do these charges mean, and how do they relate to Chauvin’s case?
Minnesota state law states that second-degree unintentional murder includes incidents when a person “causes the death of a human being, without intent to effect the death of any person, while committing or attempting to commit a felony offense...” and “causes the death of a human being without intent to effect the death of any person, while intentionally inflicting or attempting to inflict bodily harm upon the victim...”
“If you’re doing something that hurts somebody, and you know it,” Schleicher said yesterday in explaining how Chauvin’s actions relate to this statute, “you’re doing it on purpose.”
“He knew better. He just didn’t do better.”
Schleicher also argued that Chauvin’s restraint equated to an “assault,” which is a crime, and as such, governed by the first part of this law.
Under Minnesota law, third-degree murder includes: “Whoever, without intent to effect the death of any person, causes the death of another by perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind, without regard for human life...”
Schleicher said in closings that Chauvin’s actions demonstrated “conscious indifference” to Floyd’s life.
Second-degree manslaughter, according to Minnesota law, includes: “culpable negligence whereby the person creates an unreasonable risk, and consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another...”
Schleicher argued that Chauvin’s actions constituted a “strong probability of injury to others” culminating in Floyd’s death.
“You can look for yourself and see exactly what was happening,” he told jurors.
The court has previously let everyone know that there would be a one hour gap between the judge, Peter Cahill, receiving word that the jury had reached a verdict and that verdict being read in court.
This is to do with the authorities wanting to allow most workers to leave the court building in downtown Minneapolis and go home, out of security concerns.
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, was charged with murder in the second degree, murder in the third degree and manslaughter in the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man in south Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. He had denied the charges.
Opening arguments in Chauvin’s trial began on March 29 and, three weeks later, the jury retired late afternoon yesterday, to consider its verdict.
It had been very difficult to predict how long they would deliberate for, especially as very few reporters were allowed into court, so observations about the jury and its reaction to testimony, were mainly sourced by reading emails from two allocated pool reporters allowed into court.
But this seems relatively quick considering there were three charges to consider.
Verdict reached in Derek Chauvin murder trial
The jury in Derek Chauvin’s murder trial have reached a verdict.
It will be announced in court at 4.30pm eastern time, which is 9.30pm in the UK or, for worldwide reference, 8.30pm GMT.
The decision has come after less than two days of deliberations, and is expected to be read in an hour, with the family of George Floyd responding not long after that in downtown Minneapolis.
Chauvin, a white former officer with Minneapolis’ police department, has been tried on charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter, in the 25 May 2020 death of George Floyd. he denied all the charges.
While Chauvin was arresting Floyd, who was a 46-year-old Black man, he pressed his knee against the man’s neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds. Floyd, who was subdued against the pavement in the prone position, died.
This is a breaking story. More soon.
