WUFT News News and Public Media for North Central Florida from the University of Florida in Gainesville
The jury has found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all the counts he faced over the death of George Floyd. The trial has been one of the most closely watched cases in recent memory, setting off a national reckoning on police violence and systemic racism even before the trial commenced.
Chauvin has been found guilty of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.
The jury had been deliberating since Monday afternoon, following closing arguments.
Floyd’s death on Memorial Day 2020 sparked protests in Minneapolis, across the United States and around the world. It prompted calls for police reform and soul-searching on issues of racial injustice.
Floyd was a 46-year-old Black man from Houston who had moved to Minnesota just three years earlier. He was a father and brother who idolized his mother, loved making music and had been a star athlete as a young man.
Floyd died after Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds as Floyd lay facedown, hands cuffed behind his back.
Chauvin faced three counts: second-degree murder — unintentional; third-degree murder; and second-degree manslaughter.
