Data News Staff Edited Report
The jury found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of all three charges in the murder of George Floyd.
Crowds outside the Minneapolis courtroom and at the location where Floyd was killed chanted “justice” and “Black Lives Matter” after hearing the verdict.
George Floyd’s brother Philonise Floyd was sitting with his head bowed and his hands folded in front of his face in prayer before the verdict was read. As each verdict was read, his hands increasingly shook, and his head nodded up and down.
“I was just praying they would find him guilty. As an African American, we usually never get justice,” Floyd said.
Afterward, Floyd cried and hugged prosecutors, who shook hands with the Minnesota Attorney General. One prosecutor wiped away tears.
“I think it will mean change; it will mean change. It’s a first step in a long road to recovery,” Floyd’s girlfriend, Courteney Batya Ross, said in an interview on CNN on Tuesday, addressing a potential guilty verdict. “I believe Floyd came here for a reason,” she said.
After Judge Peter Cahill read and confirmed the verdict with the jury, he announced technical next steps, including scheduling sentencing in eight weeks’ time.
Cahill said the court would look at written arguments from Chauvin “within one week” and issue factual findings on it. Then they will order a pre-sentencing investigation report, “returnable in four weeks.” That will be followed by a briefing on the pre-sentencing investigation report six weeks from now and “eight weeks from now we will have sentencing.”
Chauvin faces 12 1/2 years or 150 months in prison under sentencing guidelines for a first-time offender. But the prosecution argues there are aggravating factors that require a longer prison term. That means Chauvin may face longer than that sentence.
A trial for three of the other officers involved in Floyd’s arrest, Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng, and Tou Thao, is set to begin in August.
Chauvin’s Attorney, Eric Nelson, earlier indicated that his client would appeal a guilty verdict on the basis that jurors may have been impermissibly swayed by outside forces. Nelson cited comments by Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., who urged protesters to become confrontational if the jury acquitted Chauvin.
Biden, who has pledged to overhaul the nation’s Criminal Justice System, refrained from providing his views on the case while it was ongoing. On Tuesday, while jurors were sequestered, he said that he prayed that the jury would come to the “right verdict.”
The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF) released a statement in reaction to the guilty verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial.
“We hope this guilty verdict begins to show that White supremacy will not win. White supremacy has no place in democracy, especially one that is supposed to guarantee us our freedom to live,” the statement said.
“But let us also be clear that this still does not bring our loved ones back. We do not get George Floyd back. His daughter and family have to grow up without him. His family continues his legacy through the George Floyd Memorial Foundation,” the statement added.
The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF) released a statement in reaction to the guilty verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial. “We hope this guilty verdict begins to show that White supremacy will not win. White supremacy has no place in democracy, especially one that is supposed to guarantee us our freedom to live,” the statement said.
Crowds outside the Minneapolis courtroom and at the location where Floyd was killed chanted “justice” and “Black Lives Matter” after hearing the verdict.
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