David Willson
Special to the Daily News
On Tuesday, former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of all three counts brought against him by the Minnesota attorney general for strangling George Floyd to death with a knee on his neck. There were cheers outside the courthouse, bittersweet tears among the victim’s family and a palpable sense of relief almost everywhere else. America had steeled itself for the all-too-likely alternative and more strife on its city streets.
Such verdicts are seldom handed down against police officers who kill in the line of duty. They seldom face charges. Even if it has been proven in civil court that they acted with unnecessary and unreasonable force, they often go right back to work. But Chauvin’s actions in broad daylight, fully documented by vest and smartphone cameras, proved too egregious for his department to close ranks around him or a single juror to lean in his favor.