Derek Chauvin Guilty on All Counts in Killing of George Floyd

By Timothy Bella, Abigail Hauslohner and Keith McMillan, The Washington Post

20 April 21

 

ormer Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been convicted of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd on Memorial Day. He was immediately remanded into custody and will be sentenced in the coming weeks.

The jury announced its verdicts Tuesday afternoon, less than a full day after closing arguments in the three-week trial concluded.. Deliberations concluded after the prosecution and defense teams presented nearly six hours of closing arguments that focused on vastly different views about the circumstances that led to Floyd’s death in May outside Cup Foods in Minneapolis.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Chauvin faced two charges of murder and one charge of manslaughter.


• The nation was bracing for a verdict that could lead to more civil unrest.


• These are the jurors who have decided Chauvin’s fate. Read Judge Peter A. Cahill’s instructions to the jurors.


• Prosecutor Steve Schleicher’s closing argument alleged that Chauvin killed Floyd on purpose, and that he “chose pride over policing.” “This wasn’t policing. This was murder,” Schleicher said.


• After defense attorney Eric Nelson raised objections over remarks by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Cahill admonished elected officials who have made public statements about the case in a “disrespectful manner to the rule of law.”


• A Washington Post series, “George Floyd’s America,” examined the role systemic racism played throughout Floyd’s 46-year life.


• What video and other records show about Floyd’s final minutes.

“Hey hey, Ho Ho, Derek Chauvin has got to go,” chanted a crowd outside the Hennepin County, Minn., courthouse.

Black Lives Matter flags were waving in the air and the anxiety and hype built as the jury verdict approached. Amber Young, 50, took off from work in case a verdict would be announced, and arrived here at noon.

“I felt it was important,” she said. “I’m so nervous.”

She works at the Salvation Army location where Floyd used to work. She said she worries that her 23-year-old Black son could become another “Facebook live video or hashtag” on police brutality.

A helicopter circled overhead as Black Lives Matter flags waved in the air.