On the 25th of May in 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the tragic death of George Floyd occurred at the hands of four policemen, the most notable being Derek Chauvin. Subsequently, this triggered the commonly known ‘Black Lives Matter’ riots which lasted for several months afterwards. Around 10 months later, we are currently undergoing Chauvin’s trial, where he is being currently being convicted on the third day of the trial. 

The devastating story of George Floyd’s has spread globally. We know, from bodycam footage and exterior recordings, that his cause of death was suffocation after being pinned down by police officers and then being kneeled on for a full 8 minutes and 29 seconds. Whilst George Floyd himself, along with numerous bystanders, had all pleaded that he was unable to breath, Chauvin disregarded the notions and continued to kneel on Floyd’s neck. This in turn lead to the BLM riots concerning police brutality, and the firing of Chauvin from the Minnesota police regime. 

In terms of the trial, Eric Nelson (Chauvin’s lawyer) attempted to lessen Chauvin’s sentence by claiming that Floyd’s death was not racially or socially motivated, but rather, Floyd had been attempting to keep his apparent drugs secreted from the police. Aside from Nelson, there was a great deal of evidence and arguments to connote the idea that Floyd’s death was in fact the result of malicious intent.  

As of now, Chauvin is being charged with second-degree manslaughter, unintentional second-degree murder and third-degree murder. All in all this would succumb to over a 40-year sentence. Will this be the case? If so, we can expect more restrictions on the amount of force an officer can use. But if this turns out not to be the case, then there are sure to be many exasperated Americans willing to repeat last year's protests.