FORMER Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin has been found guilty of murder after kneeling on George Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, a crime that prompted a wave of protests in support of racial justice in the United States and across the world.
Chauvin was convicted of all three charges — second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter — and will be sentenced at a later date.
“All three counts!” a crowd of several hundred people chanted outside the courthouse in Minneapolis, as reporters relayed the verdict to audiences around the world.
The jury concluded that Chauvin killed George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, by pinning him to the ground so he could not breathe properly.
A lack of oxygen in turn caused brain damage, heart failure and death, in May last year.
Immediately after the verdict Chauvin was taken away in handcuffs to await sentencing. He faces up to 40 years in prison but is likely to receive a shorter sentence according to legal guidelines.
A statement from the U.S. bishops’ conference said “the death of George Floyd highlighted and amplified the deep need to see the sacredness in all people, but especially those who have been historically oppressed.
“The events following George Floyd’s death also highlighted the urgent need for racial healing and reconciliation,” the bishops’ statement read.
“As we have seen so plainly this past year, social injustices still exist in our country, and the nation remains deeply divided on how to right those wrongs.
‘As a diverse community, the Catholic Church is committed to changing hearts and minds and to moving the conversation about race in this country beyond accusations and recriminations toward practical, nonviolent solutions to the everyday problems that are encountered in these communities.’
During Derek Chauvin’s trial, prosecution evidence put to the jury from police, medical experts and bystanders built a picture of an officer who exceeded his authority and training in pressing his knee into Floyd’s neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds.
The defence attempted to claim Chauvin was following his training, and that that Chauvin’s actions had nothing to do with Floyd’s death, and that he die from a cardiac arrest caused by an enlarged and diseased heart, and exacerbated by drug use.
But the most compelling evidence for the jury may have been excruciating video of Floyd’s suffering revealed an officer who defied calls from bystanders and even one of his fellow officers to remove his knee and help the detained man.
