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A jury found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of murder and manslaughter Tuesday in the killing of George Floyd while in police custody last year.
George Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, was in the courtroom when Judge Peter Cahill read the three verdicts.
Before they were read, Philonise Floyd appeared to pray, with his hands clasped over his face. As the first guilty verdict was read, his hands began shaking, according to a reporter who was inside the courtroom. By the third reading, his hands were shaking back and forth with his head down and eyes closed, as his head nodded up and down.
“I was just praying that they would find him guilty,” Philonise Floyd said. “I was just praying they would find him guilty. As an African American, we usually never get justice.”
Gov. Tim Walz called the verdicts “an important step forward for justice in Minnesota. The trial is over, but our work has only begun.”
Minnesota, he added, must work to rebuild confidence between police and communities of color. “Too many Black people have lost — and continue to lose — their lives at the hands of law enforcement in our state,” an apparent reference to the recent killing of Daunte Wright by a Brooklyn Center officer.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office oversaw Chauvin’s prosecution, called the convictions “accountability, which is the first step towards justice.”
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris delivered their remarks Tuesday evening.
Here’s how activists, legislators and community members are reacting to the verdicts.
