WATCH LIVE: Biden and Harris Deliver Remarks on Derek Chauvin Guilty Verdict

(Apr. 20) Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of killing George Floyd when he knelt on the man’s neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, a videotaped death that ignited a summer of rage and the greatest racial reckoning in the U.S. since the 1960s.

A jury convicted Chauvin of second-degree murder and lesser charges for cutting off Floyd’s air supply on May 25 as he lay handcuffed and begging for mercy. The conviction, which stood out against decades of impunity for most police excessive-force cases, could mean decades in prison for the 45-year-old. Chauvin will face sentencing in eight weeks.

The verdict, reached after less than 11 hours of deliberation, came 11 months after graphic footage of Chauvin and Floyd went viral, shocking millions and prompting nationwide protests that spread across the globe.

The death galvanized the Black Lives Matter movement, already active after years of previous killings by police and vigilantes, while attracting unprecedented support from White people who marched for weeks last summer. Floyd’s death sparked an urgent debate about the broader issue of inequality and institutionalized racism in all its forms, including in corporate America.

Anger had been building since the 2012 death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin at the hands of a neighborhood watch member, followed two years later by the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Months before Floyd’s death, White men in Georgia shot Ahmaud Arbery as he jogged, and Kentucky police killed Breonna Taylor in her home after waking her and her boyfriend in a drug-raid gone awry.

While those deaths and many others led to calls for justice, it was Floyd’s killing as bystanders begged police for mercy that set off national outrage. The deadly incident unfolded after Chauvin and other officers responded to a call from a convenience store, where a clerk said Floyd had tried to use a counterfeit $20 bill.

Body-camera footage showed jurors that Floyd became agitated when officers approached him in his car with guns drawn. He shouted he was afraid of being shot, and the confrontation escalated after officers attempted to put him in a squad car. Floyd screamed that he was claustrophobic and couldn’t breathe. Officers wrestled him to the ground, and onlookers filmed Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck. He had no pulse when paramedics later arrived.

The store on the corner of East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue is now a memorial that draws visitors from across the country who come to pay tribute to Floyd.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel

Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world.

To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit  or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app.

Connect with us on…

Breaking News on YouTube