One of the jurors in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin said the “racial climate” in the United States did not affect the jury’s verdict.
Brandon Mitchell, juror 52, explained that the jurors were “locked in on the case” and didn’t “know what was going on” because they weren’t watching the news during a Wednesday interview on Good Morning America.
Anchor Robin Roberts asked Mitchell, who began the interview by expressing his condolences to the family of George Floyd, if the “racial climate and the protests in the streets may have impacted the deliberations,” which he said wasn’t the case.
ALTERNATE JUROR IN CHAUVIN TRIAL WAS ‘CONCERNED’ ABOUT SAFETY FROM PEOPLE UPSET WITH VERDICT
“There was so much stress coming from the case. I mean, those things are so secondary because you’re literally, throughout the trial, you’re watching somebody die on a daily basis, so that stress alone is enough to take your mind away from whatever’s going on outside of the four walls of the courtroom,” Mitchell said.
FULL INTERVIEW: https://t.co/mZjIeTyEgP
— Good Morning America (@GMA) April 28, 2021
“I mean, that was not even, that wasn’t even something that was in any of our minds. I don’t think so,” he added.
Chauvin was found guilty last Tuesday on charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter for his role in the death of Floyd on May 25, 2020.
The former police officer, in the process of apprehending Floyd, used his knee to pin Floyd to the ground even after his hands were cuffed behind his back. The officer kept his knee pressed against Floyd’s neck for more than 8 minutes, after which he was unresponsive and later died.
Last week, Lisa Christensen, an alternate on the jury, said she was concerned about her safety, should people be unhappy with the verdict.
“The reason, at that time, was I did not know what the outcome was going to be, so I felt like, either way, you are going to disappoint one group or the other,” she said. “I did not want to go through rioting and destruction again, and I was concerned about people coming to my house if they were not happy with the verdict.”
Following Floyd’s death, protests about police brutality and excessive force, specifically against minorities, spread nationwide. Some led to clashes with the police, vandalism, and riots.
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Given the previous unrest, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz declared a state of emergency before the verdict was given and announced his intent to surge officers from nearby states to stave off possible violence following the verdict.
During the trial, the area was also experiencing unrest following the death of Daunte Wright, 20, who was shot and killed by former Brooklyn Center officer Kim Potter on April 11. Officials believe she mistook her gun for a Taser. Potter has been arrested and charged with manslaughter.
