Our live coverage has ended for the night, but you can read more here.
Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo thanked the members of his force Tuesday night in a written statement following the guilty verdicts handed down against former officer Derek Chauvin.
The police chief – who testified in the trial that Chauvin’s use of force against George Floyd had exceeded the guidelines of police training – said he respected the decision of the jury. Arradondo also called for any upcoming demonstrations to be peaceful.
Read the statement:
George Floyd’s brother Philonise Floyd said the guilty verdict in Derek Chauvin’s trial was “so much of a relief” after spending night after night awake and concerned about the outcome of the case.
Floyd said he was panicking and walking back and forth while waiting for the verdict. He said he entered the courtroom 30 minutes before the judge and jury. He said that half hour felt like “an eternity.”
He used that time to pray, he said.
Coming home with a win: Benjamin Crump, the Floyd family attorney, appeared beside Philonise during the interview. Crump recounted the family “all said George Floyd would’ve said ‘we just won the championship – tell them in Houston (Floyd’s hometown) we coming home with a W.’”
Crump said he hopes the decision will set a precedent going forward, especially in the case of Daunte Wright, a Black man who was fatally shot by police not far from where Floyd was killed.
Watch the interview:
Civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson said the verdict reached in Derek Chauvin’s trial is “significant” but more is needed to stop police killings.
Jackson specifically referenced Daunte Wright, a Black man who was shot and killed by police about 10 miles away from where Floyd died.
Maurice Lester Hall, a friend of George Floyd’s who witnessed the murder, said he believed the verdict in Derek Chauvin’s trial will mark a major turning point in the United States.
Hall, who declined a defense request to stand as their witness, said he chose to exercise his Fifth Amendment rights and not testify in the trial because he didn’t want to become a distraction.
Hall also said he will speak with his lawyers before deciding whether to testify in the upcoming trials for the officers who were with Chauvin that day.
“Big” Floyd: Hall said his friend’s nickname, “Big Floyd,” was fitting because he “always thought he was legendary.”
Hall said if Floyd were alive today, he would have embraced his name recognition.
Watch the interview:
Donald Williams, one of the witnesses to George Floyd’s murder, said the decision reached by the jury to convict former police officer Derek Chauvin “means a lot” to him and his family.
Williams, who testified for the prosecution during the trial, said he wasn’t sure if he expected a guilty verdict in the case. He likened testifying to taking part in a “championship fight.”
Williams said now the verdict has been reached, he hopes he can help make the world a more just place for his children and other Black Americans.
Watch the moment:
Major figures in the sports world are weighing in on the jury’s decision to convict former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin on all charges for killing George Floyd.
All four US major men’s professional sports leagues or their leaders issued statements. So did Minnesota’s professional teams.
The NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves and the WNBA’s Lynx said in a joint statement they were “hopeful that today’s decision will serve as a step forward.”
The Timberwolves’ star center, Karl-Anthony Towns, said the verdict was something he “never thought he would see.”
Read the statements from Minnesota’s teams:
Outside Minnesota: Prominent Black athletes from around the world also praised the verdict. Basketball star LeBron James, a vocal advocate for voting rights and social justice in the United States, simply said “ACCOUNTABILITY.”
Bubba Wallace – the only Black driver in NASCAR’s top circuit – said “justice served on all accounts. Good.”
Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, has been convicted on all charges in the death of George Floyd.
Crowds of people have gathered in Minneapolis and across the country following today’s verdict. Here’s what you need to know.
What it was like in the courtroom
The courtroom was silent as the verdict was read, pool reporters inside said. Chauvin appeared to be in a daze while waiting for the jury to arrive and was staring at the empty jury seating area. He snapped out of it after a few seconds when his attorney, Eric Nelson, spoke with him.
Philonise Floyd, George Floyd’s brother, waited for the verdict in the courtroom with his head bowed and hands clasped. He appeared to alternate between praying, looking up towards Chauvin, and looking down praying again. As the first guilty verdict was read, his hands began shaking while clasped.
Reaction
Floyd’s family
What’s next
After Judge Peter Cahill read and confirmed the verdict with the jury, he announced technical next steps, including scheduling sentencing in eight weeks time.
Cahill said the court would look at written arguments from Chauvin “within one week” and issue factual findings on it. Then they will order a pre-sentencing investigation report, “returnable in four weeks.” That will be followed by a briefing on the pre-sentencing investigation report six weeks from now.
The sentencing
The maximum sentence for second-degree unintentional murder is imprisonment of not more than 40 years. The maximum sentence for third-degree murder is imprisonment of not more than 25 years. The maximum sentence for second-degree manslaughter is 10 years and/or $20,000.
Derek Chauvin has been transferred to the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Oak Park Heights, according to Minnesota Department of Corrections spokesperson Sarah Fitzgerald.
Chauvin arrived at the facility at 4:55 p.m. CT (5:55 pm. ET). He is there through an agreement between the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota Department of Corrections, Fitzgerald told CNN.
The correctional facility is located in Stillwater, Minnesota, about 25 miles east of downtown Minneapolis. Fitzgerald added that a new booking photo of Chauvin will be available Wednesday.
Capitol Hill security forces abruptly reversed plans to reinstall outer perimeter fencing and call in additional security measures on Capitol Complex grounds minutes after Derek Chauvin was convicted.
The fencing was meant to protect against potential unrest related to the trial.
Late Tuesday afternoon, an official security alert went out to Senate lawmakers and staffers confirming that Capitol Police officials were “closely monitoring reports for potential First Amendment activities in response to the verdict in the Derek Chauvin case” and had “decided to re-install portions of the outer perimeter fence.” But just moments later, Chauvin was found guilty on three counts. Moments after that, a Capitol Police spokesperson told CNN that the department had no plans to put up fencing.
A separate source familiar with the security planning told CNN that the planned installation was suspended after Chauvin’s guilty verdict was handed down.
CNN has asked Capitol Police for comment on the timing of their request.
Some context: Cities across the country, including Washington, DC, have been preparing for potential unrest related to the Chauvin trial since at least last week. The District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department announced April 15 plans to prepare for potential unrest related to the verdict that was expected to come this week. Yet the Capitol Police did not request the boosted security measures until Monday—the day that the jury began its deliberations in the Chauvin case.
The source familiar with the planning acknowledged that the verdict came sooner than Capitol security leadership had expected, but pushed back on the notion that the request for the fencing should have been made sooner than Monday.
“The intent was to be ready when the verdict came,” this person said, adding that the Capitol Police have been in daily communication with the DC Metropolitan Police. “We didn’t need it last week. The violence only started last week.”
After Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all three counts in the murder of George Floyd, Ben Jealous, a former NAACP leader, cited the history of community involvement and calls for social justice that led to Wednesday’s verdict.
“You think about all of the movements that had to be built in order for this moment to happen, all the activists in the street,” said Jealous, the president of People for the American Way.
“We have to see this as a beginning not an end until George Floyd’s daughter can, with confidence, know that she will be safe throughout her life in a way that her father was not able to be,” Jealous said.
Jealous told CNN’s Erin Burnett that the Chauvin verdict cemented the need for continued activism and challenges to unfair and unethical police practices.
A group gathered in the Edgewood and Sweet Auburn neighborhood of Atlanta in front of a George Floyd mural after the guilty verdict came down in the Derek Chauvin trial.
The group chanted and sang demanding justice in a number of others cases and made remarks about Georgia’s voting laws.
The group marched to Centennial Olympic Park where they are now across the street from CNN Center.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday said the jury in the trial of Derek Chauvin has “fulfilled its civic duty and rendered a verdict convicting him on all counts.”
Garland said in a statement that the Justice Department’s federal civil rights investigation into the death of George Floyd “is ongoing.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz lauded Tuesday’s verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial, and pledged that it is just the beginning to enacting real change for the Black community in his state.
“It’s an important step towards justice for Minnesota, trial’s over, but here in Minnesota, I want to be very clear, we know our work just begins. This is the floor, not the ceiling of where we need to get to,” Walz said.
Walz said that today’s verdict represents a pivotal moment not just for his state, but for the entire country.
“This is our moment, and for those of you who have seen Minnesota, and as the governor of Minnesota, it breaks my heart, but my pledge is to make it better,” Walz added. “This is a great state, with great people, and it’s now our time to show that means, every single person.”
President Biden called the guilty verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial an indictment on unjust policing.
“We can’t stop here,” he added, noting that “in order to deliver real change and reform, we can and we must do more to reduce the likelihood that tragedies like this will ever happen or occur again.”
The President cited national goals of safety and inclusion moving forward, hoping that the jury’s decision can help “ensure Black and Brown people… don’t fear interactions with law enforcement.”
Biden said his hope for the future centers in part around a degree of comfort for parents in minority communities.
“They don’t have to worry about whether their sons or daughters will come home after a grocery store run or just walking down the street or driving their car or playing in the park,” he said.
Watch the moment:
President Biden recounted a conversation he had today with Gianna Floyd, George’s Floyd’s daughter, in which he affirmed that her father’s death had sparked global change.
Biden said he met Gianna at Floyd’s funeral last year and “told her how brave I thought she was.”
“I knelt down and held her hand, I said ‘Daddy is looking down at you so proud,’” said Biden. “She said to me then… ‘Daddy changed the world.’”
Biden said when he spoke with Gianna again today, he told her, “Daddy did change the world. Let that be his legacy, a legacy of peace, not violence.”
The President then went on to rebuke those who might use this verdict as an excuse for violence.
“Violent protest is not [his legacy],” said Biden. “There are those who’ll seek to exploit the raw emotions of the moment. Agitators and extremists who have no interest in social justice, who seek to carry out violence, destroy property, fan the flames of hate and division…. We can’t let them succeed.”
Watch the moment:
President Biden today called the verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial a rare but “a giant step forward in the march towards justice in America.”
“Today the jury of Minnesota found the former police officer, Derek Chauvin, guilty on all counts in the murder of George Floyd,” said the President, speaking from the White House.
Watch the moment:
Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the guilty verdict in the Derek Chauvin case, noting that the country still has work to do.
Harris also advocated for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act aimed at preventing police misconduct. She said the Biden administration would continue to urge the Senate to pass this legislation.
“This bill would hold law enforcement accountable and help build trust between law enforcement and our communities,” she said about the bill she introduced last summer when she was a senator. “This bill is a part of George Floyd’s legacy.”
Harris addressed the long history of systemic racism in the country, and how the lives of Black men “must be valued.”
She continued, “Here’s the truth about racial injustice, it is not just a Black America problem or a people of color problem. It is a problem for every American.”
“We are all a part of George Floyd’s legacy and our job now is to honor it, and to honor him,” Harris said.
Watch the Vice President’s speech here:
Vice President Kamala Harris and President Biden are delivering remarks now from the White House on the verdict in Derek Chauvin’s trial in the death of George Floyd.
The former Minneapolis Police officer who kneeled on Floyd’s neck for over 9 minutes last year was found guilty Tuesday of all three charges against him in one of the most consequential trials of the Black Lives Matter era.
Chauvin, 45, was convicted on charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The jury deliberated for more than 10 hours over two days in coming to their decision.
Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd, said it was difficult to be in the courtroom during the trial and watch “my brother being executed day after day.”
“It was difficult just watching the videos over and over and over and over again. I watched my brother being executed day after day, modern day lynching,” he told CNN after the verdict was announced. “Sitting in that courtroom, I knew my Lord and savior was in there, and George was in there.”
He said that George always told him to never give up but “that day when the officer had his knee on his neck, George had no choice but to give up.”
When the verdict was about to be delivered, Floyd said he paced back and forth before he went into the courtroom.
George Floyd’s nephew called the guilty verdict a “pivotal moment for America.”
Speaking in Minneapolis following the announcement of the jury’s decision, Brandon Williams declared the trial’s verdict long overdue, and in the process outwardly hoped for systemic change.
“It’s something this country has needed for a long time now. Hopefully today is the start of that,” said Williams, a man whom attorney Ben Crump said was “like a son” to Floyd.
Williams called himself optimistic ahead of the verdict, noting that historically even strong evidence doesn’t always guarantee a just result.
“All of the evidence, all of the witnesses, everything proved exactly what we saw in that video,” he said, adding that, “oftentimes this system fails us as Black men and women in America.”
Williams admitted that returning each day during the trial was emotionally challenging, as “this is the exact place where they took somebody from me that I love.”
However, he said, coming back on Wednesday offered some degree of closure and relief.
“This time it was easy. We came for one thing and one thing only. That was justice for George Floyd. And today that’s what we got,” Williams said.
Watch the moment:
