Category Archives: Minnesota

Chauvin guilty verdict a landmark moment in US criminal justice history

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Analysis: The testimony against the ex-officer was damning – it was clear this case was different from so many that had come before

The trial saw 44 witnesses and 15 days of testimony. And, in the end, less than a day to decide that Derek Chauvin, the white former Minneapolis police officer, was guilty of murdering George Floyd.

It is a landmark moment not just in the history of US policing and criminal justice, but around the world. George Floyd’s death came to embody the struggle for racial justice and equality in so many ways they are impossible to condense: from forceful calls for police reform in Minneapolis and new legislation in Washington, to a reckoning on the history of British imperialism in the UK and a resurgence in activism over Indigenous deaths in custody in Australia.

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Will the Derek Chauvin guilty verdict change policing in America?

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George Floyd’s death at the hands of a white police officer touched off a new civil rights uprising that rippled across the world

The jury’s guilty verdict on the former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for killing George Floyd signaled the conclusion of a historic police brutality trial and a key moment for policing and for the battle for racial equality in America.

Observers have talked about this case being so significant that it will stand as a watershed between the way law enforcement was held to account in the US before George Floyd was pinned by the neck under Chauvin’s knee, and after.

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‘Children are dying’: George Floyd’s killing fuels calls for ban on restraints in schools

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Educators use physical restraint thousands of time a year and critics say the practice is used as a routine discipline tool, especially against Black children

America is waiting on a verdict in the closely watched murder trial of Derek Chauvin in Minnesota, which has focused on the former Minneapolis police officer’s use of “prone restraint” that prosecutors say contributed to the death of George Floyd.

The manner of Floyd’s death led to a national reckoning on police brutality and racism, but it has also highlighted how the practice of restraining children remains commonplace in Minnesota schools, and in other districts across the country.

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Derek Chauvin jury begins deliberations as America braces for verdict

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The Derek Chauvin murder trial heard closing arguments on Monday before the jury began considering a verdict over the death of George Floyd that is anxiously awaited by millions of Americans.

Related: Daunte Wright and George Floyd: another chapter in America’s recurring tragedy

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George Floyd killing: protests flare as Americans await verdict in Chauvin trial

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Outcome is expected to resonate nationwide, particularly in cities that have seen continuing demonstrations over police violence

Protests against police killings flared across the US this weekend, from Minneapolis to Chicago to Portland, as Americans wait for a verdict in the trial of the white police officer charged with murdering George Floyd last year.

Closing arguments are expected in the Derek Chauvin trial on Monday. The most serious charge the former Minneapolis officer is facing in Floyd’s death is second-degree murder, but the jury might choose to find him guilty on third-degree murder or manslaughter, or acquit him altogether.

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Daunte Wright and George Floyd: another chapter in America’s recurring tragedy

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The latest instance of a Black man killed by a police officer added fuel to the fire already burning in Minneapolis

It was shortly after midday on Thursday at the New Salem Missionary Baptist church in Minneapolis. In front of a towering stone facade, Katie Wright stood at the pulpit, almost dwarfed by the plexiglass lectern and mass of microphones in front of her. She shuddered with grief, held by members of her family.

Five days earlier, her son, Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old father of one, had been shot and killed by a single bullet fired by a white police officer in the city suburb of Brooklyn Center. Four nights of unrest had followed with hundreds of protesters clashing with police dressed in riot gear, pelting crowds with teargas and rubber bullets.

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Protests erupt in US cities over police violence as riot declared in Portland

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Thousands marched in Chicago where 13-year-old Adam Toledo was killed while about 100 arrested in Brooklyn Center

After a heated week of police violence, protests erupted in several US cities on Friday, at times turning tense.

In the wake of the killings of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old shot by police after being pulled over, and unarmed 13-year-old Adam Toledo, thousands took to the streets to demonstrate, sometimes into the night.

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Derek Chauvin trial: officer’s brief defense could reflect confidence … or lack of credibility

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After a dramatic final week, all that is left is closing statements and jury decisions

The prosecution took 10 days to lay out its case against Derek Chauvin. The former Minneapolis police officer’s defense to the charges of murdering George Floyd barely lasted two.

The relative brevity of Chauvin’s case might reflect a confidence on the part of the defense that the evidence against him is easily picked apart or at least shaky enough to raise reasonable doubt with the jury.

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‘Justice isn’t even a word to me’: Daunte Wright’s parents speak out after shooting – video

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The family of Daunte Wright expressed their grief and shock after he was shot dead by a white police officer in Minnesota last Sunday. His mother, Katie Wright, said it was impossible for her to imagine justice for her son's death. 'We're never going to be able to see our baby boy again,' she said. Wright's father, Aubrey, said: 'He was a good kid. And the way he was killed, he did not deserve that. Can you blame my son for being scared of the police?'

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George Floyd killing: defense rests case after Derek Chauvin declines to testify

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Both sides will make closing arguments on Monday and the case over the death of George Floyd will then go to the jury

Derek Chauvin declined to testify in his murder trial over the killing of George Floyd as the defence wrapped up its case after just two days of testimony.

Chauvin invoked his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination as he sacrificed the chance to explain to the jury why he kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes and for his lawyers to paint a more sympathetic picture of the police officer. But he also avoided a minute interrogation of his actions and thinking by the prosecution’s cross-examination.

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Officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright charged with manslaughter

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Former police officer Kimberly Potter was charged with second-degree manslaughter on Wednesday after fatally shooting the 20-year-old Black motorist Daunte Wright, officials said.

The white former suburban Minneapolis police officer was arrested earlier in the day in relation to the shooting dead of Wright during a traffic stop on Sunday in Brooklyn Center, a suburb of Minneapolis.

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Derek Chauvin trial: defense claims bad heart and drug use killed George Floyd

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Dr David Fowler, testifying for the defense, also said vehicle exhaust may have played a part in Floyd’s death

A leading forensic pathologist has told the Derek Chauvin trial that George Floyd was killed by his heart condition and drug use.

Dr David Fowler, testifying for the defence, also introduced the idea that vehicle exhaust may have played a part in Floyd’s death by raising the amount of carbon monoxide in his blood and affecting his heart.

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Minneapolis unrest grows as families of George Floyd and Daunte Wright speak out – video

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Protesters were dispersed by police with flashbangs and gas grenades in the third night of demonstrations and unrest after the death of a black man shot by a white police officer during a traffic stop. The two officers who stopped Daunte Wright, 20, resigned two days after his death in Brooklyn Center on Sunday.

Across town, at Hennepin county courthouse, relatives of Daunte Wright and George Floyd talked about the two cases of fatal police violence. ‘The world is traumatised, watching another African American man being slain,’ said George Floyd’s brother

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Minnesota officer who killed Daunte Wright resigns along with police chief

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Police chief had said that officer Kim Potter meant to fire her Taser but fired her service weapon by mistake, killing the 20-year-old

Kim Potter, the white Minnesota police officer who fatally shot the Black resident Daunte Wright during a traffic stop, and her chief of police, Tim Gannon, resigned on Tuesday.

Their resignations come after two nights of protests in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center over Sunday’s killing of Wright, who was unarmed when he was pulled over for a traffic violation on Sunday.

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Police chief says Minnesota officer mistakenly fired gun instead of Taser – video

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The fatal police shooting of a 20-year-old Black man in a Minneapolis suburb appeared to be an ‘accidental discharge’ by an officer who drew her gun instead of her Taser during a struggle, the city’s police chief said. ‘This appears to me, from what I viewed and the officers’ reaction and distress immediately after, that this was an accidental discharge that resulted in the tragic death of Mr Wright,’ the Brooklyn Center police chief, Tim Gannon, told reporters. Police in the Minneapolis suburb attempted to arrest Daunte Wright following a traffic stop due to an expired vehicle registration. Video footage presented at a news briefing showed a struggle between Wright and officers. Wright then got back into the car and an officer could be heard yelling ‘Taser, Taser, Taser’

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Derek Chauvin trial: expert witness says George Floyd’s health deteriorated as officer continued using force – live

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Prosecutors are asking Anderson about the initial 27 May processing of the Mercedes SUV, and the second search in December 2020.

Anderson, presented with photos of the Mercedes interior during the first processing, said was asked whether there was a pill there.

Prosecutors have now called McKenzie Anderson to testify, a forensic scientist with Minnesota’s criminal apprehension bureau.

Anderson has been a “crime scene team” leader with the bureau of criminal apprehension since 2016. Anderson headed the crime scene investigation in Floyd’s death. Anderson, a technician, and a photographer from her team, arrived at the scene around 1:15 am on 26 May, 2020.

SA Reyerson testimony is now complete. Onto the 2nd BCA witness in the case, McKenzie Anderson. She was the crime scene lead on death of #GeorgeFloyd investigation. Continued #DerekChauvinTrial coverage live right now on @FOX9. pic.twitter.com/s3NxFP8B23

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Derek Chauvin trial: Minneapolis police chief says use of force violated policy – live

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The court is just coming back from a short break, but here is a stark detail from the court room.

Coronavirus risks have imposed heavy restrictions on court. Only two media “pool” reporters are allowed into the court room itself. And defendant Derek Chauvin and the family of the late George Floyd were each allocated just one seat to use in the court room.

Here is the most important clip of the day so far. After so much harrowing video footage and lingering stills of then-officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck in the first day or two of last week, the jury and public has been spared.

But the prosecution decided it needed to show one of the defining images of the whole Floyd disaster, that picture of Chauvin, hand in pocket, sunglasses on his head, looking directly into a bystander’s phone camera, while Floyd is pinned under him.

Incredibly damning testimony from the Minneapolis police chief:

Derek Chauvin's actions were "not part of policy, not part of our training, and certainly not part of our ethics or values." pic.twitter.com/gS0RpTGGP0

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George Floyd’s girlfriend shared his opioids pain – Derek Chauvin refused to see it

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Courteney Ross’s testimony showed how police departments fail in their duty to protect those who battle addiction

Of all the accounts of George Floyd’s life and death heard in a Minneapolis courtroom this week, perhaps the least expected was his girlfriend’s description of their shared struggle with opioid addiction.

Courteney Ross’s wrenching testimony gave a very human glimpse into the remorseless search for a fix and a mutual fight to shake off drug dependency.

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Detective says Chauvin knee on neck a ‘totally unnecessary’ use of deadly force

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Richard Zimmerman gives testimony and tells court ‘if your knee is on someone’s neck – that could kill them’

A Minneapolis homicide detective has described Derek Chauvin’s decision to press his knee into George Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as a totally unnecessary use of “deadly force”.

Related: Video of George Floyd's killing retraumatizes many as trial unfolds

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With world watching Derek Chauvin’s trial, focus will be on officer who ‘betrayed’ his badge

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Analysis: the trial over the killing of George Floyd may be a bellwether for racial justice, but the prosecution will focus on one man’s actions

For all the many thousands of protests around the world, the global reckoning on racism and policing prompted by the killing of George Floyd last May, prosecutors were clear that their case in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin would be centered around a period of time lasting less than 10 minutes.

Nine minutes and 29 seconds. The total time that Chauvin held his knee to George Floyd’s neck, leaving him “pancaked”, in the words of prosecutor Jerry Blackwell, between the ground and Chauvin’s body, gradually asphyxiating him to death.

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