Chauvin found guilty in George Floyd’s murder
A stillframe from a video shows Derek Chauvin at the scene of George Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis. Video courtesy of Darnella Frazier
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all charges today for his role in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020.
The verdict of the twelve-person jury was announced at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, after a four week trial and just over ten hours of deliberation.
The charges included second-degree murder without intent, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
Judge Peter Cahill said sentencing for Chauvin will follow in approximately eight weeks. Chauvin’s bail was revoked, and he was immediately taken into custody and escorted out of the courtroom by Hennepin County Sheriff’s deputies.
Chauvin left his mask on for the reading of the verdicts and expressed no visible emotion.
The verdict comes at a time of stress for the Twin Cities metro area following multiple police killings in the weeks since the trial began. Daunte Wright was recently killed by Brooklyn Center Police on April 11, and an unnamed suspect was killed by police in Burnsville on a highway in the south metro on Sunday afternoon.
To prepare for potential unrest, the National Guard was deployed to the area, and Gov. Tim Walz declared a peacetime emergency in seven counties surrounding the metro. The emergency declaration included a request to import potentially hundreds of State Troopers from Ohio and Nebraska under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.
In addition to the added police, fences and barriers were put up all around the area surrounding the courthouse, hopeful to keep protestors at bay if Chauvin were to be acquitted. Hennepin County Court personnel were told to vacate downtown courthouses just over an hour before the verdict’s announcement.
Complications arose in the trial the day before its verdict when Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) made remarks at a racial justice protest on Saturday in Brooklyn Center that troubled Judge Cahill and were speculated to have had an effect on the trial.
“We’ve got to stay on the street, and we’ve got to get more active,” Waters said. “We’ve got to get more confrontational.”
Judge Cahill heavily criticized Waters’ comments, and mentioned that they could result in the trial being overturned if the defense were to appeal.
This trial and the events surrounding it have been at the forefront of the social justice movement for the past 11 months. Cameras in the courtroom are uncommon in Minnesota, but Cahill’s decision to allow streaming and broadcast of the trial was made to counteract the limited in-person attendance allowed due to COVID-19 protocols.
The University of Minnesota Twin Cities announced they will move into reduced operations at 5 p.m. to prepare for potential unrest.
The trial for the three other former Minneapolis police officers at the scene of Floyd’s death — Tou Thao, Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane — begins on Aug. 23. All three are charged with aiding and abetting murder, as well as aiding and abetting manslaughter. That group will be tried together.