Former police officer Derek Chauvin convicted of George Floyd's murder

MINNEAPOLIS:

A jury found former police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of murder and manslaughter as a crowd in front of the Minneapolis courthouse erupted in cries of joy on Tuesday.

Over 200 people had assembled to hear the verdict for the man accused of killing African-American George Perry Floyd Jr. in a case that sparked protests against racial injustice around the world.

"Guilty on all three counts," a man announced over a megaphone.
"Today, we celebrate justice for our city," he added.
In the past week, tensions had been high around Minneapolis, agitated by massive protests following Floyd's death last year.

Floyd was an African-American man murdered by police during an arrest after a store clerk alleged he had passed a counterfeit USD 20 bill in Minneapolis, Minnesota last year.

Chauvin, one of the four police officers who arrived on the scene, knelt on Floyd's neck and back for 9 minutes and 29 seconds while Floyd was handcuffed, lying face down on the street calling out "I can't breathe."
After his death, protests against police brutality, especially towards black people, quickly spread across the United States and the world.

(Edited by Ridhika Joshi)

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