The jury has found Derek Chauvin guilty of all murder and manslaughter charges for the police killing of George Floyd.
This trial was an opportunity for the justice system to hold Derek Chauvin accountable for his actions when he took the life of George Floyd. We can now breathe a collective sigh of relief that the right decision has been met, and that justice has been served.
He faces a maximum 75 years in prison.
The verdict as monitored on CNN:
The former Minneapolis police officer was found guilty of all three charges. His bail was immediately revoked and he was placed in handcuffs and led away from the courtroom after the verdict was read.
Reactions:
After Derek Chauvin was convicted for the murder of #GeorgeFloyd, people are thanking Darnella Frazier — the teenager who filmed the police killing:
Jazmine Hughes@jazzedloon·we got here because of darnella frazier, who was 17 years old when she filmed george floyd’s murder. i am forever grateful to her.
Nathan McDermott@natemcdermott·It’s hard to imagine we’d have this verdict if not for Darnella Frazier, the 17-year-old girl who took out her cell phone and recorded Derek Chauvin killing George Floyd.
According to Mother Jones, Frazer was out walking her 9-year-old cousin who also took a stand at the trial. She was too young to be shown on video, but replied that “I was sad and kinda mad… It felt like he was stopping his breathing and it was kind of like hurting him.
Frazer, now 18, delivered a powerful testimony at Chauvin’s trial on Tuesday abut how witnessing Floyd’s death has affected her life.
“When I look at George Floyd, I look at my dad, I look at my brothers, I look at my cousins, my uncles, because they are all Black,” Frazier said. “I look at that, and I look at how that could have been one of them.”
Frazer was too young to be shown on court camera, but her voice cracked as she said, “It’s been nights I’ve stayed up apologising and apologising to Geoge Floyd for not doing more and not physically interacting and not saving his life.”
Referring to Chauvin, who has now been charged with second degree unintentional murder, their degree murder, and second degree manslaughter, Frazer said, “it’s like, it’s like not what I should have done. It’s what he should have done.”
After Frazer’s testimony, her 9-year-old cousin, who was with her on the day of Floyd’s death, took the stand.
Asked by the Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell how she felt seeing a police officer kneeling on Floyd, the girl, also too young to be shown on video replied, “I was sad and kinda mad… It felt like he was stopping his breathing and it was kind of hurting him.”