Former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin was last night taken to a maximum-security prison and placed on suicide watch after being found guilty on all three counts of murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd.
Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all counts on Tuesday, April 20 in the Hennepin County courtroom, where jurors spent three weeks listening to testimony about the day Floyd died under the weight of the 45-year-old officer’s knee during an arrest on May 25, 2020.
Judge Peter Cahill thanked the jury on behalf of the state of Minnesota for not only jury service but ‘heavy-duty jury service’.
Chauvin was taken in handcuffs from the courtroom as Judge Peter Cahill immediately revoked his bail pending sentencing. He was transferred to Oak Park Heights, Minnesota’s only maximum-security prison.
The Minneapolis police officer is being closely watched by guards at the prison to ensure his safety, not just as a suicide risk, but also from other inmates.
He faces a minimum sentence of 12.5 years and maximum of 40 years if he serves terms for each charge concurrently. If served consecutively, he faces between 29 and 75 years.
Joe Biden told the nation that the verdict sends the message that no one is ‘above the law’, as he demanded new action to honor Floyd after a killing he called a ‘stain on the nation’s soul.’
‘No one should be above the law. And today’s verdict sends that message. But it’s not enough. It can’t stop here,’ the president said.
