In May last year, in the midst of the pandemic, a disturbing video emerged from the US showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of an African-American man for nine minutes.
The man, 46-year-old George Floyd, ended up dying.
His death sparked massive protests all over the country over what African Americans saw as yet another act of police brutality exacted upon African Americans.
The #BlackLivesMatter movement was reignited and many demonstrators called for justice.
Well, they may have just got it.
Derek Chauvin, the Cop Who Killed George Floyd, Convicted of Murder; He Had Pleaded Not Guilty to the Charges
The cop who killed George Floyd, former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin, was convicted of murder on Tuesday (20 April).
A 12-member jury found the 45-year-old guilty of all charges including second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter after deliberating for over 10 hours.
Chauvin’s trial went on for three weeks with testimony from 45 witnesses including bystanders, police officials, and medical experts.
Here’s the moment when the verdict was read out:
Chauvin had actually pleaded not guilty to all three charges, which were:
- second-degree unintentional murder involving “intentional infliction of bodily harm”
- third-degree unintentional “depraved mind” murder involving an “act eminently dangerous to others”
- second-degree manslaughter involving a death caused by “culpable negligence”
Nevertheless, the jury found that Chauvin had used excessive force and convicted him of all three charges.
Many see this as a huge victory, especially for African Americans, as they believe the US criminal justice system has been lenient on police officers who have inflicted violence on civilians throughout the years.
As for Chauvin, he faces just 12.5 years in prison for his murder conviction because he’s a first-time criminal offender.
Prosecutors could, however, seek a longer sentence up to the maximum of 40 years if the judge concludes that there were “aggravating factors”.
What Happened
On 25 May last year, a convenience store employee in Minneapolis called the police alleging that Floyd had used a fake $20 note to buy some cigarettes.
Several minutes later, police officers arrived and located Floyd, who was in a car. After approaching the car, one of the officers pulled his gun out and ordered Floyd to show his hands.
The officers then reportedly struggled to put Floyd in the police car.
Then, Chauvin, who arrived sometime after, pulled Floyd out of the car and pushed him onto the floor.
Chauvin then knelt on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes. Two other officers knelt on the 43-year-old man’s body as well.
Floyd repeatedly said “I can’t breathe”, but the officers persisted and continued kneeling on him.
Six minutes later, Floyd became unresponsive. An ambulance arrived and he was later pronounced dead.
Medical Experts Confirm Chauvin Had Killed Floyd
An autopsy last year showed that Floyd died of asphyxiation.
And in court, a cardiologist, pulmonologist, toxicologist and forensic pathologist confirmed that Chauvin had killed Floyd by compressing his body and depriving him of oxygen.
In response, the defence argued that Chauvin behaved as any “reasonable police officer” would under those circumstances.
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