What if American politicians could shift their solidarity, passion and vigor from making lies about Xinjiang onto solving problems of racial discrimination, police violence and gun proliferation at home? Would Floyd and Wright still be with their families rather than being “thanked” by politicians for losing their lives?
Cop Derek Chauvin is taken to maximum security prison and placed on suicide watch after being found guilty on ALL three charges of murder and manslaughter in death of George Floyd as Joe Biden calls the killing a stain on the nation s soul
The veteran cop was emotionless as Judge Peter Cahill read the jury s decision, which centred around nine minutes and 29 seconds of Chauvin kneeling on the unarmed black man s neck in May last year
Cheers rose from crowds gathered outside the courthouse and down at the intersection of 38th and Chicago, now known as George Floyd Square, where the fatal arrest had taken place
Maxine Waters says my words don t matter after Derek Chauvin judge warned her remarks could be grounds for an appeal as she defends calling for confrontation if no conviction
California Congresswoman Maxine Waters on Saturday travelled to Minneapolis and told protesters to get more confrontational if Derek Chauvin is acquitted
Republicans were enraged by her rousing the crowd on the eve of the jury retiring to consider their verdict
Judge Peter Cahill said it was abhorrent that politicians weighed in in the midst of a trial but said her opinion really doesn t mean much
Waters on Monday insisted she was right to air her views and claimed the judge said my words don t matter
The jury returned its verdict on Tuesday afternoon after just 10 and a half hours of deliberation
As the verdict was read out Chauvin looked on silently in the Hennepin County courtroom
Jurors spent three weeks listening to testimony about the day George Floyd died under the weight of Chauvin s knee during an arrest outside the Cup Foods convenience store in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020
The jury had not sent back any questions to the judge or asked to review any video or hundreds of exhibits entered in the course of the trial
Judge Peter Cahill thanked the jury for not only jury service but heavy duty jury service
George Floyd is dead is because Mr Chauvin’s heart was too small : Prosecution rebuttal blasts defense s closing statement that kneeling on his neck WAS the reasonable action for a cop as jury retires and Minneapolis braces for protests
Trial attorney Jerry Blackwell concluded the state s case against Derek Chauvin on Monday by telling the jury: The reason George Floyd is dead is because Mr Chauvin s heart was too small
The jury was dismissed for deliberation before Chauvin s attorney Eric Nelson called for a mistrial
Nelson took issue with Blackwell s characterization of the defense s case as nonsense and a story - as well as the possibility that media attention could bias the jury