ROCKFORD — Residents are on edge ahead of a verdict in the Derek Chauvin murder trial, and local police say they have contingency plans in place in case of unrest.
Rockford activist Jay Ware said he is scared of how people might react if Chauvin is found not guilty and what it would say about justice in the United States.
"I am very apprehensive," Ware said. "I think there is probably a 50-50 chance that justice is going to happen. I think the guy is guilty, but I just don’t have very much faith in the system."
Ware and other activists said a not guilty verdict in the face of what they view as overwhelming evidence against Chauvin — the Minneapolis police officer who was accused of murder after he knelt on a handcuffed George Floyd's neck for more than 9 minutes as he died — would signal that there is no justice in America.