America was holding its breath.

The jury has decided: the former white Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, 45, was found guilty on Tuesday April 20 of the murder of George Floyd, an African-American forty-something he had arrested in May 2020 with three other officers for a minor offense.

For more than nine minutes, Derek Chauvin had kept his knee on the neck of George Floyd, who was lying on his stomach, his hands cuffed behind his back.

His agony, filmed live by passers-by, shocked the world and sparked demonstrations of historic proportions against racism and police violence.

>> To read also: "How Black Lives Matter revived the debate on the compensation of the descendants of slaves"

The jury finally came to an agreement with US President Joe Biden.

The latter had estimated, a little earlier in the day, Tuesday, that the evidence presented during the trial was "overwhelming".

"I pray the verdict is correct. In my opinion, it is overwhelming. I wouldn't say that if the jury hadn't stepped down to deliberate," he said from the Oval Office, adding that the George Floyd's family was "a good family".

With AFP

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