WATCH LIVE: Verdict reached in Derek Chauvin trial
The jury has reached a verdict in the murder trial of former Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin in George Floyd's death. It will be announced between 4:30 and 5 p.m. (ET).
Chauvin was captured on video kneeling on the neck of Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, for more than nine minutes.
He is charged with murder and manslaughter for Floyd's May 25, 2020 death, which sparked protests across the United States and around the world against racial injustice and police brutality.
Watch live coverage, via NBC News, below:
The most compelling evidence in the case against Chauvin was the video of Floyd's arrest taken by a 17-year-old bystander, Darnella Frazier.
Prosecutors repeatedly showed excerpts from the video and in closing arguments, the state's attorney urged jurors to "believe your eyes."
"This case is exactly what you thought when you saw it first, when you saw that video," prosecutor Steve Schleicher said.
"This wasn't policing, this was murder," he said. "Nine minutes and 29 seconds of shocking abuse of authority."
Prosecutions of police officers are notoriously difficult in the United States because they enjoy what is called "qualified immunity," said David Schultz, a law professor at the University of Minnesota and Hamline University.
"Generally you can't hold police officers criminally responsible unless you can show they didn't follow department procedure or protocol, that they didn't act the way a reasonable officer would," Schultz said.
With reporting from AFP
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