Joe Biden spoke of George Floyd’s death penalty: “I pray the decision is the right one.”

President Joe Biden on Tuesday called for the verdict to be “correct” in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer charged with the murder of George Floyd, calling the evidence “overwhelming.”

I pray the verdict is correct The tests are overwhelming in my opinionBiden told reporters. He also clarified that he only spoke openly because the jury is isolated in a hotel and incommunicado during the deliberation.

Biden also said he spoke to Floyd’s family, whose death went around the world in May 2020 thanks to a video showing Chauvin pressing his knee on his neck for more than 9 minutes. The president added that he cannot even “ imagine the pressure and fear ” felt by Floyd’s relatives, stressing that they “ ask for peace and tranquility, whatever the verdict may be. ”

The restlessness outside the courtroom is felt on the streets of Minneapolis, besieged by the presence of thousands of US National Guard and other security forces in attendance, awaiting the outcome. The final part of this trial comes in a context of mounting tension in the country following the deaths from police shootings of African-American Daunte Wright, 20, in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, and Adam Toledo, 13, in Chicago, who both took place in recent weeks.

On Monday, the Minnesota State Attorney’s Office and Chauvin’s defense presented their final arguments for about four hours before the jury, which will now have to discuss the case and reach a unanimous verdict. After listening to the arguments of both parties and the instructions given to them by the judge for their deliberation, the jurors, six whites and six black people or from other races, isolated themselves and locked themselves in a hotel to judge everything. the evidence presented at trial and leading to a penalty.

The judge, Peter Cahill, reminded jurors of the necessary unanimity in his judgment and asked them to base it solely on the evidence presented at trial. “They have to be absolutely fair,” Cahill told them.

The jury decides whether Chauvin is guilty of the three charges he is facing: second degree murder, punishable by up to 40 years in prison; third-degree murder, with a maximum sentence of 25 years, and second-degree manslaughter, involving up to 10 years of deprivation of liberty. However, since he has no criminal record, could only be sentenced to a maximum of 12 years and a half in prison for the first two charges and 4 years in prison for the third.

(With information from AFP and EFE)

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