Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who knelt on George Floyd for more than 5 minutes leading to his death, has been found guilty of all the three charges against him on Tuesday in one of the most-watched trails of the Black Lives Matter era.

The former Minneapolis police officer was charged convicted of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree and second-degree manslaughter.

Despite the Minnesota sentencing guidelines recommending about 12.5 years in prison for each murder sentence and nearly four years for manslaughter, the state, in this case, asked for stricter sentencing.
For that being the case, Chauvin, 45, could face up to 40 years in prison for second-degree murder, 25 years for third-degree murder, and 10 years from manslaughter.

The trial came 11 months after a bystander videoed how Chauvin forcefully knelt on George Floyd on the street for 9 minutes and 29 seconds on May 25, 2020. The video clearly showed how the 46-year old black man who was struggling to breathe repeatedly exclaimed, “I can’t breath��������������������������� before finally going silent.
This was a historical trail that the world was waiting for justice for the bl”https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/04/20/us/derek-chauvin-trial-george-floyd-deliberations/index.html”>CNN report, the verdicts led to “cries of joy and sigh of relief” in the streets of Minneapolis.

���������������������������I was just praying the” said Philonise Floyd, younger brother to George Floyd.

The defense attorney argued that Chauvin’s use of force was because the hostile bystander and Floyd died of other causes.
Comments and reactions on social media were all a sigh of relief that justice has been finally served for a victim from the minority community in the US.

The Talk Show mogul Oprah Winfrey wrote on her official Facebook expressing how relieved and emotional she is hearing the verdicts.

��������������������������� Relived���������������������������and emotional in a way I didn���������������������������t expect. I c”, she wrote.

The former us president Barack Obama���������������������������didn������ￔAt least; we have our answer. But if we are honest with ourselves, we know that true justice is about much more than a single verdict in a single trial”.

The death of George Floyd has inspired one of the most potent protests across the world. Black Lives Matters took the world by storm after the video of Floyd made it online with the words “I can’t breathe,” since then, black live issues have been discussed in living rooms and public places and ways for new legislation laws.
Chauvin, the officer, found guilty, sentencing is set for eight weeks from now.

PHOTO: Reuters

SOURCE: CNN