Within minutes after the verdict was read in the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin, California Governor Gavin Newsom tweeted about the conviction.
“No conviction can repair the harm done to the Floyd family. Today’s verdict provides accountability, but we must continue our work to root out the racial injustice that haunts our society and to fight systemic racism and use of force,” Newsom’s office tweeted.
Chauvin was convicted Tuesday of murder and manslaughter for pinning George Floyd to the pavement with his knee on the Black man’s neck in a case that touched off worldwide protests, violence and a furious reexamination of racism and policing in the U.S.
Chauvin, 45, could be sent to prison for decades.
The jury of six white people and six Black or multiracial ones came back with its verdict after about 10 hours of deliberations over two days. Chauvin was found guilty on all charges: second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.