Joe Biden spoke on George Floyd’s death trial: “I pray the decision is the right one.”
The president said that the evidence presented in the trial against Derek Chauvin is “overwhelming.” The jury is assembled, and to convict the former police officer, must reach a unanimous decision.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday called for the verdict to be “correct” in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer accused of murdering George Floyd, calling the evidence “overwhelming.”
Biden told reporters, I am praying that the decision is correct. The proof, in my opinion, is remarkable. He also clarified that he only spoke openly because the jury has been isolated in a hotel and is incommunicado while deliberating.
Biden also said that he has spoken with the family of Floyd. The death in May 2020 of the latter went around the world thanks to a video that showed Chauvin pressing his neck with his knee for more than 9 minutes. The president added that he could not even “imagine the pressure and anxiety felt” by Floyd’s relatives and stressed that they “are asking for peace and tranquility, whatever the verdict.”
The restlessness outside the courtroom is palpable in the streets of Minneapolis, besieged by the presence of thousands of soldiers from the US National Guard and other security forces, awaiting the result.
The case comes amid growing tensions in the country following the death of African-American Daunte Wright, 20, in a police shooting in Brooklyn Center (Minnesota) and Adam Toledo, 13, in Chicago, both occurred in recent weeks.
On Monday, the Minnesota State Attorney’s Office and Chauvin’s defense presented their final arguments for about four hours in front of the jury, which will now have to debate the case and reach a unanimous verdict. After hearing the arguments of both sides and the instructions that the judge has given them for their deliberation, the jury members, six white people, and six black people or of other races, isolated themselves and locked themselves in a hotel to review all the evidence presented. At trial and reach a sentence.
Judge Peter Cahill reminded those concerned of the necessary consensus of his decision and asked them to base it entirely on the evidence presented at the trial. They must be absolutely fair,” Cahill told them.
The jury deliberates whether or not Chauvin is guilty of the three charges he faces: murder in the second degree, punishable by up to 40 years in prison; murder in the third degree, with the highest penalty of 25 years. And killing in the second degree, which carries up to 10 years of deprivation of liberty. But, as he has no illegal record, he could only be punished to a maximum of 12 and a half years in prison for the first two charges and four years in prison for the third.