Derek Chauvin has been convicted of murder for killing George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes.
The former Minneapolis police officer’s crime prompted a wave of protests in support of racial justice in the US and across the world.
The jury unanimously convicted Chauvin of all the charges he faced – second and third degree murder, and manslaughter.
They concluded that the white former officer killed the 46-year-old black man through a criminal assault by pinning him to the ground so he could not breathe properly.
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The verdict amounts to a milestone in the fraught racial history of the US and a rebuke of law enforcement’s treatment of black Americans.
At George Floyd square in Minneapolis, the intersection where Mr Floyd was killed and is now named after him, people screamed, applauded and wept.
A lack of oxygen caused Mr Floyd brain damage, heart failure and death, the jury found.
Chauvin faces up to 40 years in prison following the killing in May last year.
The verdict was reached by jurors on Tuesday after deliberating for about 10 hours over two days in a city on edge against another outbreak of unrest.
Chauvin showed little reaction beyond his eyes darting around the courtroom as the verdict was read to the court.
His bail was immediately revoked and he was led away with his hands cuffed behind his back.
The jurors’ identities were kept secret and will not be released until the judge decides it is safe to do so.
Credit: Evening Standard
