that everybody who is important in this case is in that courtroom and that he's got everything lined up. john hendren with the latest from outside the courthouse in minneapolis john you're monitoring developments there for us but for the moment thank you let's go to mary frances berry professor of american thought and history at the university of pennsylvania and also the former chair of the u.s. commission on civil rights she joins me now by skype from new orleans madame thank you so much for joining us here 3 on out you followed the trial 3 weeks of trial you've heard that the fence in the prosecution what is your reaction to the fact that the jury reached a verdict and what was it 11 hours of deliberation or so. right the history of these things is a trials is that if the jury stays out a lesser amount of time and this is considered a small amount and then the verdict is likely to be guilty we don't know if that's true i mean not guilty if they stay out longer limb their quad will it could linger about it or whatever and but i don't know whether history tells us anything in this case everyone who has spoken about this and the president the united states vice president and to people on down and people like me who watch this. show and will be found guilty because the evidence seems to be overwhelming but as we've pointed out all you really need is one person on the juries to disagree so the idea is then if there is not a guilty verdict in this case who knows what will happen if they is one it'll be great for the legal system for the idea of police being defenders of people rather than folks and injuring you when you call on them to help it could change the whole game the way police behave toward citizens if in fact he is acquitted even after all of this evidence has come in all the video endless experts and all the rest of it it will just name then we're in deeper trouble and we have to figure out something to do about reforming the system so everyone and most people are hoping that in fact there would be a guilty verdict at least on some of the counts. and let's just remind the viewers that chauvin has been charged with 3 different counts 2nd degree murder 3rd degree murder and then 2nd degree manslaughter and went and the lesser charge that i think carries up to 10 years in prison i mean you mentioned getting acquitted but the thing. that many people would be disappointed if for example he's found guilty but only of the 2nd degree manslaughter charge i think people who have watched this and who saw what happened to seen the video who have been involved in india will be very disappointed because they could see what they're all not. dead and say he killed a guy murdered and then he's a police officer so they will be disappointed i think that it is less likely that they'll all be conserved in the protests take to be over a period of time if he is indeed convicted of something but if he is convicted of nothing then you've got a different problem on your. and i'm sure you've seen the images that are sort of coming out now from outside the courthouse protesters have gathered there they've been gathering there more and more as the news came in that the verdict and that the jury had reached a verdict and do you worry about unrest of both in minneapolis and across the united states yes there is a great concern there would be. a protest activity you would be happy if there is protest activity and he is acquitted because people should protest such a thing i don't think people mean when they say protests myla protests that's not what the people who are ticky late in this mean that they are taken to be primarily by people who like to dispute stuart what they're saying it will be surprising to have him acquitted and they have no one protest and everyone roams silent remarried and friends just very well for you gives me for interrupting you but the judge has just come back so we will also have to you again but let's now take you to minneapolis the courthouse where judge peter cahill a start it's already for the jury. please be seated. members of the jury i understand you have urged. member of the jury i will now read the verdicts as they will appear in the permanent records of the 4th judicial district state of minnesota county of head up and district court 4th judicial district state of minnesota plaintiff versus derek michael show of and defendant verdict count one court file number 27 c r 201-2646 we the jury in the above entitled matter as to count one unintentional 2nd degree murder while committing a felony find the defendant guilty verdict agreed to this 20th day of april 2021 at 1 44 pm signed your foreperson juror number 19 same captioned verdict count 2 we the jury in the above entitled matter as to count 2 3rd degree murder perpetrating an eminently dangerous act find the defendant guilty verdict greed to this 20 if they have april 2021 at 1 45 pm signed by jury foreperson 19. same caption verdict count 3 we the jury in the above entitled matter as to how 3 2nd degree manslaughter culpable negligence creating an unreasonable risk by the defendant guilty verdict agreed to this 20 if they have april 2021 at 1 45 pm jury foreperson 01. members of the jury i'm not going to ask you individually if these are your true and correct verdicts please respond yes or no journey over to are these your true and correct verdicts. journal or not are these your true murderers yet german 1000 are these your true and correct verdicts. journal or 27 are these your drink records yes. journo were 44 of these or drink records yet journey over 52 are these your true and current birds. journal or 55 are these your true and correct verdicts yes. journal recently 9 of these your true and correct verdicts. journal or 85 are these your true birds. journal or 89 is this you are these your true bernie's yes journal or 91 of these you truly great birds yes germinating 2 are these your true and birds. and these are really those are you one so say you all. or is this your guy 5 that the verdicts as read reflect the will of the jury and will be filed accordingly. i have to thank you all behalf of the people of the state of minnesota for not only jury service but heavy duty jury service and i'm going to ask you to do now is to follow the deputy back into your usual room and i will join you in a few minutes to answer questions and to advise you further so all rise for the jury. be seated. with the guilty verdict returned we're going to have. blakely you may file a. written argument as to blakely factors within one week the chordal issue findings on the blakely factors the factual findings one week after that or p.s. i immediately returnable in 4 weeks and we will also have briefing and after you get the p.s.i.i. 6 weeks from now and then 8 weeks from now we will have sentencing if we get to the exact dates. in a scheduling order is there a motion to be have the state. to. speed on the cost of. bills revoked by and is discharged and the defendant is remanded to the custody of the happy county sheriff and then further. thank you. we're going to. go back and that was there a show been being let out of the court in handcuffs and remanded in custody after he was found guilty on all 3 charges relating to the killing of george floyd so guilty of 2nd degree murder guilty of 3rd degree murder and guilty of 2nd degree manslaughter just to give you an idea of the 2nd degree murder on its own carries a penalty of up to 14 years in prison and the judge announced that sentencing would occur in about 8 weeks from now we're now showing pictures of the crowds gathered outside the courthouse in minneapolis let's listen. i was curious i mean she was. i think. this. choice. because it really. was. well scenes of joy there outside of the courts in minneapolis supporters of georgia for the rock did with joy many there literally crying tears of joy when they heard that derek should have been has been found guilty on all 3 charges relating to the death of george ford 2nd degree murder 3rd degree murder and 2nd degree man slaughter so many had gathered there were they had been there before and then obviously is the. reached us about an hour and a half ago that the jury had reached their verdict and they did so incredibly quickly. sequestered about 24 hours ago so that the jury had reached a verdict more and more people gathered outside the courthouse in minneapolis. well let's go to ronald sullivan professor of law and director of the criminal justice institute at the harvard law school joining us from news in massachusetts you have followed this trial with us we were speaking just before the verdicts were announced what's your reaction. well i'm sensing that there is an incredible amount of relief in minnesota that justice was served and there's such a history and we talked about it before during the last segment such a history of black and brown people not receiving just results in the criminal justice system so this is an example that the justice system can work for i can ground people all across the country and it's an important verdict it's also an accurate verdict given the evidence that was put forward what we saw was a case where the prosecution showed beyond a reasonable doubt that they're showing cause the death of george floyd by putting his knee on his neck with such an extended period period of time i do believe that the burning was reached honestly that it was a reach genuinely and sincerely and it was reached within the confines of the courtroom that is the extrajudicial the things outside of the courtroom did not come into play rather that jury listened carefully to the evidence and realized that the defense that was proffered simply could not meet the force of the overwhelming evidence produced by the state it because that was a concern that some people expressed about the trial that it would have been impossible for the jury not to be aware of everything that surrounded the trial even though the judge did say to them that they should not consider the potential consequences of their verdict as they deliberated to find one. well one of the things that i found over the years in trying cases in even the very many high profile cases that i've tried is that jurors take their job very seriously they come into this majestic building and they see the the the salinity of the place and they take their charge extraordinarily seriously so the judge told them not to watch the news not to talk to people about the case and wants the case to a submitted that jury was sequestered so the marshals could keep an eye on them and they they filter out the television in a way that the news channels don't come on so most juries and most jurors within a jury take very seriously they charge their charge and they do it right it appears here that this jury simply credited the narrative that the state presented i see if you a few weeks ago you may recall that this is going to come down to which america the jury believe that the state essentially suggested that it's not credible not credible that at that moment mr freud just happened to die of heart disease in hypertension and so forth had nothing to do with the needle in the nick it just happened that that was his time and he died the coincidence of that sort of thing happening is astronomical i'm no mathematician but the likelihood that that precise moment after we saw him walking around in the store he just died of other causes seems highly unlikely in the jury at the jury seem to credit that narrative and they didn't believe what the defense suggested were alternative causes of the of the death it seemed too farfetched too speculative and too unlikely so i think that substantively this verdict was. correct and for a good good of the country it also happens to be good but the jury got it right we least for now will not have to when i have to withstand the poor about reach that we would have if we had been acquitted and ronald sullivan i don't know whether you can see the pictures that we're showing on our t.v. screens right now but there were people literally hugging and literally jumping for joy outside the courthouse news of the of this verdict of the 3 a guilty on all 3 charges but also live in a stay with us that like to bring into the conversation mary frances berry professor of american thought and history at the university of pennsylvania and also former chair of the u.s. commission on civil rights mary frances berry i guess the 1st obvious question to you what's your reaction to the verdict. well this is momentous not just because of the way the jury all the process of jury went through in the press which is wonderful but it is momentous because we have had so many years of disappointment and despair and loss of control than saying the name of people who've been killed and we can trace it all way back as people do to policing durness 9 days of slavery you know and so now we get something positive that shows that sometimes injustice system can work for you and then really important and the major hope is that it might deter some police officers somewhere who might be thinking about you know whatever they're doing in the end up killing somebody and then it doesn't happen and that we might get some kind of police reform because police themselves are embarrassed at the sort of graphic circumstances the seeing of what happened and because also we are grateful for the technology that makes it possible for us to sleep only 4 and over and over and over again but me on the neck in all the things that was shown in the media and so i think it's a great day it's a great day for all of us who've been in despair and let us hold that it home for the time being and the healing to begin and yvonne sullivan if i can just come back to you right now and then i guess the same question to you as well afterwards man frances berry ronald sullivan is there a chance do you think the very chauvin might appeal and how likely will that be to succeed. oh for more than a chance he definitely will appeal he has an appeal by right wing convicted of a criminal case like this so i he will appeal. the defense attorney eric mel said certainly made a strategic objections along the way that are going to serve as purported basis for the appeal however the judge was a very careful judge in. my prediction is that there are not grounds sufficient to support an appeal in this case but he he definitely definitely will appeal there's no there's no sort of mistake about that he will appeal mary frances berry do you agree. yes there will be an appeal on the part of the show the police union in small and finance and whatever it takes. and he has a right of appeal and they have preserved all kinds of objections but remember too that there will be in cases the other police officers that were there that will be coming up where some of the same issues that we have just seen will be before the court right there in minneapolis so in a sense this is not all of them you can have a mix of relief at this point and a moment of hope a i believe those cases of you to come up in august and again just to remind the viewers that the sentencing for their action of an ash should happen in about 8 weeks according to the judge let me bring in some reaction that now is of course coming in the family lawyer for the floyd family as hail to the verdict as a turning point in the history of ronald sullivan would you agree with those words . well that's a in the extraordinary optimistic view by the family's attorney a turning point in history and. aspirational lee i would love that to be true however i'm old enough to know that that these sorts of terms in history comes in arabs and flows there are there is progress and then sometimes it goes in the other direction do i wish this marks a turn in history where all citizens across the united states will be treated fairly yes i hope so that is my aspiration this history suggests that that will be the case no it will not having said that this is an important case it is symbolic a lot and i don't want to diminish the significance of it but it's not it's not a panacea it doesn't quite reach that status we still have a lot of work to do in order to get to make justice happen we have to roll up our sleeves and work and continue to work so this is not the end i would see it as the beginning i'm not sure who made those statements it may have been my different been crump but as the lead lawyer there are so it is i would say been i hope you are right but i still think that we have a lot of work to do in order for the united states in the immortal words of james baldwin to achieve its democracy we still have work to do we can do it but we still have work to do so mary frances berry what steps do you think need to be taken in the united states so that this conviction becomes more than just symbolic so that it really does signal a change well the 1st thing we must understand is the protests but people ordinary people out in the street all from the beginning of this last year over and over again created. climate in which this kind of prosecution and conviction could go forward. it didn't all just happen in the jury room or in the courtroom we had a sort of build up over the months of this it shows in value of continued protest activity in the ballot protest activity on the part of people in vigilance but the thing that needs to be done we need to in fact pass the legislation that takes away some of the protections that police officers have qualified immunity and so on and we need to do something to have traffic stops and have. misdemeanors and written about the $20.00 bill and so on and not treated by police officers as if that some town a major episode that they should come you know with guns drawn or flying and think that something has happened and end up killing someone so we need to look at some modifications of how we use the police what the resources are and what should be done and then needs to be done urgently. again question to both of us starting with ronald sullivan there's been a lot of talk about how sometimes you know this is just a few bad apples but do you think or tell us how you think it goes beyond that and what is needed is more firearms training and need a though or what do you think would change the situation. well certainly it's more than one bad apple there are systemic problems that bedevil our criminal justice system in policing system that's not to say that there are not some honest great very good loving caring police officers out there certainly there are but there are systemic forces that can to new to injure black and brown people across the country and one thing is the law itself the law that permits police officers to come into contact with citizens in the way that they do qualified immunity is another problem the law that allows police officers to be shielded from certain forms of criminal and certain forms of civil liability with being gaijin in actions we do i agree 110 percent we do need to fix this traffic stop business there are so many deaths associated with routine traffic stops i have a brilliant student at harvard for example who's come up with an idea of an app that police officers can access as soon as they stop you or your information is there and you can talk over one of these electronic formats like like zoom or skype and you don't have to have this face to face contact where things get so tense i'm not saying this is the end all be all of ideas but we have to begin to think critically about the ways in which police officers come in contact with citizens and particularly citizens who live in economically depressed community where police officers are already on heightened alert we also need to bring back forms of community policing where police officers live in communities or at the very least work routinely in communities that they serve. there is nothing better than officers knowing the people in the families who are in the community because when you feel a sense of kinship to the community where you work you begin to see people as fellow human beings you begin to see them as we are they're not they and right now we have far too much and they in the criminal justice system it's them these people can't be that we're all in this together they are to see the people they serve as fellow human beings as citizens as colleagues right and then you'll see a much more effective police court so there's a lot to do as i said this is the start not the finish we have a lot of work to do and glad this happened the light it i can't see the pictures but i looked. on the down time and you can just feel how relieved people are you can feel just an innocent exhale that finally finally finally a little semblance of justice so let's pick up on that and do some work. ronald sullivan and mary frances berry f. for the moment thank you both so much for sharing your initial reaction to this verdict with us here on al-jazeera i'd just like now to go to our correspondent who was always outside the courthouse and just also talk through some of the pictures that we are seeing really pictures of jubilation outside the courthouse the verdict the guilty on all 3 charges for derek chauvin john hendren tell me a little bit about what you're seeing at where you are and i guess your reaction as well to this verdict you of course have been following this trial for the past 3 weeks. well the good people who come by here have been extraordinarily emotional i think they've been pessimistic for so many years about so many police incidents where black men in particular but african-americans in general have been killed at the hands of police and. what we've heard is a real celebration but also a surprise i don't think people expected a guilty verdict on all 3 counts and so you're you're seeing some of that spillover it's on social media it's at the courtroom behind me it's in the streets and it's not just here it's in other cities as well and i just want to give you a little flavor barbara from the courtroom because we got a pool report there are only 2 reporters allowed in there and those cameras don't show everything that's going on so according to the pool reporter so long as floyd who is the brother of george floyd he was the member of the floyd family in there as the verdict was read and the entire time the pool reporters as he was praying and as the 1st verdict was read his hands started to shake and then he nodded his head please forgive me and it's not his they are just to go the chair of the can. question a black caucus was just speaking still liz let's listen in. we're going to go and continue to do the people's work thank you. and there from washington d.c. the chair of the congressional black caucus giving her reaction to the verdict back hendra and really are going to see so many reactions to this considering that we saw. reaction before the verdict was even announced when president biden actually got in touch with the family of george floyd. that's right in president biden saying. he was praying for the right result the right verdict he didn't say what that verdict was but he made it pretty clear how he felt about it he said he thought the evidence was overwhelming and floyd has been praying for this and that report we received from the pool reporters in there suggest that he was really a lady at the moment that that verdict was read and afterwards we're told the children sat as the jury walked out just staring at the empty jury box and then eventually when it was over looked back at floyd and then walked out of the room in custody to go straight to the jail here and wait that 8 weeks until he is sentenced to what could be decades in prison as you mentioned that charge comes with a potential 40 year sentence people are so excited in the street here that behind the camera right now there are a couple cars that have just smashed into each other apparently so distracted by what has been going on in the streets here and i expect we will see that celebration here all night. in the same way that we saw. the anger in the streets earlier right now the people who we are seeing here are generally enthusiastic about what has been happening there are people that we've seen come by who will yell a quick out of their car but they are vastly vastly outnumbered by the people who come by and say justice which we have seen just in the last few minutes these streets because most of the people have left town in anticipation of this ruling but the rest are down there at the courthouse as you see. and that is so i mean we obviously have seen pictures of absolute jubilation. outside the courthouse mentioning it also around where it was actually killed we have seen people gather there as well but obviously minneapolis was a city on a look at say high alert 3000 members of the minnesota national guard alongside the police had been called in to potentially help with the any eventually violence or unrest or protests do you think the chances of that now are going. well this is a city in a sense under siege for months 1st of all an eruption of violence and then what you have now you you might have heard someone screaming from the car there. it's really been a movement this. police brutality movement but also any movement for african-americans and their relations with police it's interesting to note that in the courtroom there was no charge related to race this has always been looked at as a racially charged case. wasn't charged with any crime he was just charged with mistreating abusing a man under his care but as. black americans all over the country will tell you they feel that they have been dramatically mistreated by police and we've got plenty of evidence of that happens all the time this seems to be 1. 1 element of pushback to that we had other cases there was the case of look on mcdonald in chicago a few years ago there was an officer sentenced to 7 years in prison for she fatally shooting him 16 times in the back but those cases are so much rarer than the times when police have been acquitted 30 years ago we had the rodney king beating case videotaped the entire world saw it and still those officers were all acquitted of all charges i think there's a sense here that things are changing that's why you heard the lawyer for the florida family say that it's a turning point in america whether that's the case remains to be seen there are 50 different states in the u.s. and they all react differently in minnesota is one of the more liberal ones so you would expect things to to be a little different to be a little more progressive here but there is definitely the beginnings of a reaction in the street and as i said earlier i think there is surprise here i don't think people were expecting guilty on all 3 counts. especially i guess after just 11 hours for a failed deliberation as well john hendren with the latest from minneapolis and john for the moment thank you. let's just watch this moment to get the moment when judge peter cahill read out the verdict to the courtroom we the jury in the above entitled matter as to count one unintentional 2nd degree murder while committing a felony find the defendant guilty as verdict agreed to this 20th day of april 2021 at 1 44 pm signed your foreperson journey 19. same caption verdict count 2 we the jury in the above entitled matter as to count 2 3rd degree murder perpetrating an eminently dangerous act find the defendant guilty verdict agreed to this 20 if they have april 2021 and 1 45 pm signed by a jury foreperson your member 19 same caption count 3 we the jury in the above entitled matter as to count 3 so you to be manslaughter culpable negligence creating an unreasonable risk by the defendant guilty verdict greed to those 20 if they have april 2021 now 1 45 pm and that is the moment that the judge read out the verdict from the jury finding their show been guilty on all sorry charges related to the death of george floyd the charges 2nd degree murder certain degree murder and 2nd degree man slaughter let's now go back to mary frances berry professor of american force and history at the university of pennsylvania and also the former chair of the u.s. commission on civil rights she joins me now via skype from new orleans thank you so much again for being with us i don't know whether you could see those images whether you have seen the images but they're showing us face betrayed very little emotion when the judge read out the guilty verdict do you think that anyone really following that trial would have known that really the guilty verdict was the only reasonable one based on the evidence. well anyone who watched it and saw the evidence pile up and see the video evidence and the experts and all the rest of it and to have seen the children oh my whole thing you had to think that there had to be some guilty plea and even show a new set there the entire time without displaying any emotion that i could see and i watched most of it. should have known that he was likely to be convicted of something perhaps it was a poll 'd that was convicted on all 3 counts and who knows what he was thinking maybe he was rethinking whether he should have testified in his own behalf will it would have made a difference i don't think. but in any case i think that anyone who watched it and saw it and anyone who just saw the death of jill is full it over and over and over again repeat it had to understand that a conviction was possible oh mary lawrence mary forgive me but the attorney general of minnesota speaking right now let's listen in and then i'll come back to you justice however because justice implies true restoration. but it is accountability which is the 1st step towards justice and now the cause of justice is in your hands and when i say your hands i mean the hands of the people of the united states. george floyd matter. he was loved by his family and his friends his death shocked the conscious of our community our country the whole world he was loved by his family and friends but that isn't why he mattered he mattered because he was a human being and there is no way we could turn away from that reality. the people who stopped and raised their voices on may 25th 2020 were a boat case of humanity a phrase i stole from my friend jerry blackwell. a boat k. of humanity old young men and women black and white a man from the neighborhood just walkin to get a drink. a child going to buy a snack with her cousin an off duty firefighter on her way to a community garden brave young women teenagers who press record on their cell phones why did they stop they didn't know george floyd they did know we had a beautiful family they did know he had been a great athlete and they didn't know he was a proud father or they behead people in his life who loved him they stopped and raised their voices and they even challenge that they already because they saw his humanity they stopped and they raised their voices because they knew that what they were seeing was wrong they didn't need to be medical professionals or experts in the use of force they knew it was wrong and they were right. these community members this boki of humanity did it again in this trial they performed simple yet profound acts of courage they told the truth and they told the whole world the truth about what they saw. they were vindicated by the chief of police by the minneapolis is longest serving police officer and by many other police officers who stepped up and testified as to what they saw into what they knew. what happened on that street was wrong we owe it and we owe our gratitude to fulfilling their we owe them our gratitude for fulfilling their civic duty and for their courage in telling the truth to countless people in minnesota and across the united states who join them in peacefully demanding justice for george floyd we say all of us thank you in the coming days more may seek to express themselves again through petition in demonstration urge everyone to honor the legacy of george floyd by doing so calmly legally and peacefully i urge everyone to continue the journey to transformation and justice it's in your hands now i also want to address the floyd family if i may over the last year the family of george floyd had to relive again and again the worst day of their lives when they lost their brother their father their friend i'm profoundly grateful to them for giving us the time we needed to prosecute this case they have shown the world what grace in class and courage really look like. although a verdict alone could not in their pain i hope it's another step on the long path toward healing for them there's no replacing your beloved perry or floyd as his friends called him but he is the one who sparked a worldwide movement and that's important. we owe our thanks to the min and women of the jury who gave many hours of their time and attention to carefully listening to the evidence weighing the facts rendering the verdict they are regular people from all walks of life a lot like that bilbo kaye of can of humanity on that corner on may 25th and in that courtroom. they answer the call and they served in a landmark trial. they now deserve to return to their lives if they ask you to respect their privacy we ask you to honor that request. i want to acknowledge the remarkable team that helped us prosecute the case we put everything we had to this prosecution we presented the best case that we could in the jury heard us and we're grateful for that we had the sole burden of proof in the case in history shows that when cases like these can be difficult i'm proud of every hour every minute in every ounce of effort we put in this case and let me tell you we spent many hours working on this case do we not we week after week committee meeting after committee meeting this team never let up in a never quit we fought every day and we did it together the attorney general's office together with the head of the county attorney's office thank you sir and we did it together. i'm deeply grateful to everyone who worked on the case most of these folks will tell you it's a bad idea to put together a team of all baikal jordans nobody would want to pass the ball this thing that was their true strength is searing the love passing the ball understanding that all of us together are smarter than any one of us alone. and that worked although the verdict has been rendered this is not the in in the coming weeks the court will determine sentencing and later this summer we expect to present another case we will not be talking about that. this verdict reminds us how hard it is to make enduring change and i just want to finish by sharing some important historical legacy if you allow me in 1968 the kerner commission was formed to investigate the causes of uprisings across major american cities and a man named dr kenneth clark a famous african-american psychologist who along with his equally accomplished psychologist wife mamie contributed to compelling research in the brown versus board of education case and dr clarke testified at the kerner commission and i want to quote you what he say. i read that report the one in the 1919 riot in chicago and it was if i were reading the report of investigating the committee of the harlem riot in 1935 the report on investigating the harlem right 1943 and the report of the mcallen commission on the watts riots i must say again in candor to you the members of this commission it's like a kind of alice in wonderland with the same moving picture reshown over and over again the same analysis the same recommendation and the same in action those are the words of dr clarke in 1968 here we are in 1920 scuse me 202-2021 here we are in 2021 still addressing the same problem since dr clark testified we have seen rodney king abner louima oscar grant eric garner michael brown freddy gray sandra blaine lando castillo look while mcdonnell stefan clark. jefferson and tom black briana taylor and now don take right in adam to late oh. this has to end. we need true justice that's not one case that is a social transformation that says that nobody has been in the law and no one is above it. this verdict reminds us that we must make enduring systemic societal change. more than a month ago months before george floyd was murdered the minnesota public safety commissioner john harrington and i released the recommendations of our working group on reducing deadly force encounters with law enforcement what all of us in that working group including law enforcement want it is for you. everyone to go home safe any time someone doesn't everyone's lives have changed forever we need to use this verdict as an inflection point what if we just prevented the problem instead of having to try these cases we don't want any more community members dying at the hands of law enforcement and their families lives ruined we want we don't want any more law enforcement members having to face criminal charges and their families lives ruined we don't want any more communities torn apart one way to prevent this is to get into a new relationship where we as a society reexamine the use of force and old subtle assumptions i'm so proud of eric down to 0 in the minneapolis police officers who by their testimony said enough is enough in another way to prevent it is by knowledge and lifting up every once in manatee helping communities heal and officers be well another way to prevent it is with accountability passing laws and instituting policies and training is important but they must be more than words on paper and there must be accountability for violating them with this verdict we have brought some accountability finally this verdict demands us to never give up the hope that we can make enduring change generations of people said slavery would never in generations said jim crow would never in a generation said women would never be equal to men generation said if you were different in any way you could never be a full equal member of our society today we have to in this travesty of recurring enduring enduring. deaths at the hands of law enforcement those beliefs. things we have to focus our attention on and as i now do close i just want to say to you the work of our. aeration is to put on a kind of a law enforcement behind us it's time to transfer the relationship transform the relationship between community and the people who are sworn to protect them from one that is mistrustful suspicious and in some cases terrifying into one that is sympathetic compassionate and affirming with death benefits that will benefit everyone including police officers who deserve to serve in a profession that is honored in departments where they don't have to worry about. colleagues who don't follow the rules now the will that work is in your hands the work of our generation is to put it into the vestiges of jim crow and the centuries of trauma and finally put it in to racism we can end it it doesn't have to be with us into the future if we decide now to have true liberty and justice for all the work of our generation is to say goodbye to old practices the don't serve us anymore and to put them all behind us one conviction even one like this one to create even one like this one could create a powerful new opening to shed all practices and reset relationships. so with that i just want to say that i do hope. the people step forward and understand that nobody can do everything but everybody can do something you can do something the way like every day people like donna williams in geneva genevieve hanson and christopher martin and charles mcmillan and all those teenagers and young people stepped up and did something you can do things like help pass the george floyd justice and accountability act. it's in your hands let's get the work done and now i'd like to invite my friend and partner in justice michael freeman here to become the attorney. thank you mr attorney general 1st. i want once again to extend my heartfelt sympathies to the families of george floyd i hope today's a verdict provides some measure of closure for them and let me say what a tremendous job attorney general keith ellison did in recruiting and organizing a talented team of prosecutors and supporting staff great job. matt frank jerry blackwell steve fleischer and aaron eldridge were exceptional their use of experts evidence and witnesses left the jury no alternative but to find mr shaaban guilty we and the people of minnesota should rightly be proud of these 4 and your entire staff all volunteer is an assistant attorney generals and the jobs they did over the last 7 weeks. i'm also proud from the moment that the end of the county attorney's office charged kerrick chauvin with murder and manslaughter 4 days after george floyd's murder our team worked long hours side by side with the attorney general's team managing attorney gene byrd our good legal analysis and writing assistant head of the county attorney joshua larson did witness prep and strategy development and burden on a boswell manager of our victim services division has been new direct contact for nearly a year now with the family of george floyd victim and witness advocates jessica emerson and keith johnson manage all the witnesses person civil civilian and professional my 2 deputies will lead a yo up in and even a fever and i supplied strategic advice record nation to this talented team 247. these guilty verdicts against mr chavez cannot be the end of the conversation about of circular things of civilians we need to prevent these killings in the 1st place the minnesota legislature as it moves into the final 3 weeks of the session must pass a number of bills that will make policing fair and safer for all but especially for black men and women and other people of color. have been lobbying legislators to pass these critical bills if they fail then it will be time once again to have a statewide task force told hearings and come up with a model legs. slay should and tending to put an end to these deaths i am prepared to be part of that fight again keith great job thank you. and now i'd like to ask the trial lawyers to to share some thoughts if they have any but before i do that i'd like to myself think a number of people and i'm just going to start by. what we want to do. while we just have a trial lawyers come forward and they will clink our whole team so we're sure which we all want to. thank you attorney general ellison. and when i say thank you to attorney general ellison i want to thank you for calling me names calling me back into public service which is something that i was able to do as a federal prosecutor as a state prosecutor as an assistant county attorney in the united states army. and when i left private practice i thought those days were behind me but i received a call and it was from keith ellison and we were just listening a little earlier to keith ellison the attorney general of the minnesota giving his reaction to the verdict he said accountability was the 1st us that the justice and we have seen accountability he said george floyd matter to me mattered because he was a human being in law did the civic duty by what he used the term that had been used by the prosecution the bouquet of humanity the people that stopped as derek show vince and he was on george floyd's neck and videoed what was going on and also. told the. to a stop what he was doing let's just go and listen in now to the crowd that has gathered outside the courthouse. else in minneapolis. well that's what we got on about. it without. a doubt i don't want to cast doubt. on. this. board some are probably right that. we will. not. know. something out. that. we've not done something. that people. know about. that might. not might make everybody. happy and. to. leave them i think oh my god i think you have to. learn. to get there and we've got 7 to. spend time with them and get to know that. because 1st and foremost this is for you george floyd. and for your family and friends thank you. thank you. so let me also think very publicly aaron eldridge who was part of our trial team was not here today but was indispensable lolo. alaska's absolute thank you lola for a wonderful job that you did josh larson. thanks so much my friend. thank you so very. and. want to thank you and your the next generation the next generation of justice seekers dionne di i don't want to thank you where you thank you very much and i want to thank you were known about as well you are a story. and i also want to thank so many other people but for that with that we're going to close our comments right now and just say that we are prepared to continue to pursue justice thank you. but. that was keith ellison attorney general of minnesota and we also heard from various members of the prosecution team including gerry blackwell who gave the final hole yesterday for the final statement of the prosecution when he told the jury believe your eyes when it comes to trying to reach a verdict and the jury has of course reached a verdict guilty on all sweet charges of 2nd degree murder 3rd degree murder and this 2nd degree man slaughter we have seen crowds gather outside the courthouse. and really people live up to do with joyous soon as that news came in of the jury having reached a verdict of guilty on all sorry charges the sentencing should take place in about 8 weeks and their chauvelin was taken out of the courtroom in handcuffs and remanded in custody let's bring you some breaking news from minneapolis where former police officer derrick chauvet has been found guilty of all charges in the killing of the georgia floor floor.

Related Keywords

Germany , Georgia , United States , India , Alaska , Washington , Minnesota , Pennsylvania , Minneapolis , Chicago , Illinois , Americans , America , American , German , Mary Lawrence , Peter Cahill , Michael Freeman , Mcdonnell Stefan Clark , George Floyd , Mary Frances , Josh Larson , Donna Williams , Keith Johnson , Mary Frances Berry , Kerrick Chauvin , John Hendren , Jerry Blackwell , Michael Brown Freddy , Matt Frank , Rodney King Abner , Yvonne Sullivan , Briana Taylor , Keith Ellison , Joshua Larson , Gerry Blackwell , George Ford , Aaron Eldridge , Eric Mel , Rodney King , Ronald Sullivan , Steve Fleischer , Berry Ronald Sullivan , Geneva Genevieve Hanson , Sandra Blaine Lando Castillo , Bilbo Kaye , Derek Chauvin John , John Harrington , Charles Mcmillan ,