George Floyd: Derek Chauvin found GUILTY of all charges

The jury in the trial of Derek Chauvin found the ex-police officer guilty of the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. They reached a verdict after 10 hours of deliberation on Tuesday, 20 April 2021, according to the New York Times.

DEREK CHAUVIN FOUND GUILTY OF MURDERING GEORGE FLOYD

The 12-person jury heard the testimonies of 45 witnesses in total — 38 from the prosecution and seven from the defence – during the trial, which began three weeks ago.

Chauvin faced charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, with the second-degree murder charge being the most serious one, as it could result in a maximum of 40 years punishment. The jury found Chauvin guilty of all charges.

Floyd’s last moments were video recorded by an eyewitness and the footage went viral and resulted in arguably the largest protest in American history when millions of citizens took the streets spurred on by the racial injustice Floyd’s death represented.

Despite the compelling video evidence, Chauvin’s defence argued that he acted the way any reasonable police officer would and that there were other underlying factors that may have contributed to Floyd’s death, including cardiovascular issues and drug abuse.

State prosecutors asked the jury to “believe [their] eyes” during closing arguments and trust the feelings they had while watching the video of Floyd dying under the knee of Chauvin.

The tension is palpable in the city of Minneapolis as several buildings were boarded up while the public waited to hear the decision made by the jury. According to NYT, more than 3000 soldiers from the United States National Guard were sent to fortify the city.