The killing of George Floyd shocked the nation last summer. On Tuesday, nearly one year later, a Hennepin County, Minnesota, jury moved the country once again: this time, with a guilty verdict in the trial of officer Derek Chauvin.
Cheers were heard outside the courtroom immediately after the reading of the verdict. Crowds in Minneapolis chanted All three counts!
The former Minneapolis police officer was seen on video pinning Floyd to the ground with his knee for more than nine minutes as Floyd pleaded that he could not breathe.
The video of the arrest set off days of protests over the summer and served as a flashpoint for conversations about police brutality and racial injustice.