Derek chauvin guilty or not guilty4/27/2023 How did you evaluate the prosecution and the way it made its case against Chauvin? Younger African-Americans, in particular, didn’t rule out the possibility of an acquittal. And nearly everyone here, across all kinds of lines of age and race and class, predicted chaos if he was acquitted outright. Talking with people in various communities, I found that there were a lot of people who expressed the idea that, at best, Derek Chauvin might be convicted of the least of the charges. They were worried that a lesser verdict or an acquittal would set off a wave of demonstrations and violence. A lot of establishments and buildings in town were boarded up. This clarifies the terms of the discussion. We see what the issues of criminal justice in this country really are. It’s that rare moment when we see through the same lens. That’s been one of the most essential things about this whole case-that we are now, all of us, Black and white, on the same page. But you had to know, if you have been observing these things for long enough, that such things are always possible. Rather than say of the verdict that this is the best-case scenario, I’d prefer to say that it’s the least worst-case scenario. Some things you will never get out of your mind. It’s important to remember that nothing that happened today changes the fact that we were witness to a man losing his life in the most excruciating way, while constantly saying he couldn’t breathe and begging for intercession from his dead mother. From experience and from learning about the unpredictable dynamics of these situations, you might have expected some sort of split verdict, kind of splitting the difference, but to get all three guilty verdicts was, at least to me, unanticipated. But it turns out that the prosecution pitched a shutout. Honestly, I am surprised that they came back guilty on all three counts. And now there are loads of cars jamming the intersection here, people hitting their horns, a huge traffic jam. Someone from Black Lives Matter had a bullhorn, and when the first ‘guilty’ was called out the crowd reacted. There was a sizable military contingent on the scene, too, in case of a verdict that caused an . . . Before the verdict was announced, there was a lot of anxiety. When the news came that there was a verdict coming, the crowd here went from fifty to several hundred in no time. I’m in front of the courthouse, on the lawn, at the same spot where, last week, Ben Crump, the lawyer for the Floyd family, had a rally and press conference. Jelani, can you start by telling me where you are and what it’s like to be there? We spoke at length on Tuesday our conversation has been edited for length and clarity. And he has been covering issues of race and criminal justice for many years, from Newark to Atlanta and beyond. Lipman professor of journalism at Columbia University, has been in Minneapolis covering the trial for the magazine. Cobb, a staff writer at The New Yorker, a historian, and the Ira A. “It was an explosive cheer,” Jelani Cobb told me, by telephone, from the courthouse. And, when they heard the first of the three guilty verdicts, the reaction was loud and unambiguous. There were Black Lives Matter activists, reporters, and many people who rushed to the area after getting alerts on their phones that the judge would soon read out the will of the jury. Outside, on a broad lawn, several hundred people had congregated to wait for the news. The sentence will be handed down in eight weeks. Cahill thanked the jury for its “heavy-duty service.” Bail was revoked. Chauvin, now a convicted murderer, was handcuffed and led out of the courtroom. And, within just a few minutes, it was over. The verdict was guilty on charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. At the Hennepin County Government Center on Tuesday afternoon, Judge Peter Cahill opened a yellow envelope and read out the verdict against Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who, last May, kneeled on the neck of George Floyd for nine minutes and twenty-nine seconds, killing Floyd and igniting a nationwide uprising against police abuse and systemic racism.
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