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A jury found that former Police officer Derek Chauvin was guilty of the murder of a 46-year-old African-American man named George Floyd, who died on a Minneapolis street last year.
Bystanders filmed Mr Floyd showing 45-year-old Derek Chauvin kneeling on his neck for over nine minutes during an arrest in May.
The footage was quickly shared and went viral after his death, which sparked protests worldwide against racism and excessive use of police forces.
Source: CC/ ITV News (YouTube)Chauvin was found to be guilty, taking up three charges for second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter. Until his sentencing, he will remain in custody, potentially spending decades in prison.
Out of the 12-member jury, it only took under a day to reach the verdict that a three-week trial would conduct, leaving Minneapolis eager for answers. After both sides had presented their will on Monday, they were isolated inside a hotel with no other type of contact to consider sequestration.
Anonymously they had to agree on a decision and could not leave until it was made.
Before Mr Floyd's death, he purchased a cigarette packet at a South Minneapolis corner store on May 25, 2020. Suspicion was raised by the shop assistant who thought he'd used a counterfeit $20 bill to make the purchase, later calling the Police because there was a refusal to return them.
Police arrived and ordered him to get out of his car parked, handcuffing him. Due to struggles of putting him into their Police unit, he was then wrestled onto the ground and pinned under weight.
Chauvin consistently pressed his knee hard into the back of Mr Floyd's neck for over nine minutes. Several bystanders protested for his life, arguing that the officer needed to stop.
More than twenty times Mr Floyd said he could not breathe, begging for his mother and saying ‘please, please, please' — an hour later, he was pronounced dead when an ambulance arrived.
Image: SUPPLIED/ITV News
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This article is inaccurate, no one knows the degree of force that was applied to Floyd’s neck. In fact, the coroner’s report showed no trauma to the posterior neck region and bodycam footage shows that Chauvin did not have his knee on Floyd’s neck for the entirety of Floyd’s restraint.