Sentenced in the Freud case: Former white policeman Xiao Wan was charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter

  On the afternoon of April 20, local time, after nearly three weeks of court hearings, the former white police officer Drake Chauwan was sentenced in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the United States for the murder of George Floyd, an African-American man.

  A 12-person jury ruled that Xiao Wan was charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.

△Former white policeman Drake Chauvin

  Chauvin was charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter for Freud's death. He refused to plead guilty.

If convicted, Xiao Wan will face up to 40 years in prison for second-degree murder, up to 25 years in prison for third-degree murder, and up to 10 years in prison for second-degree manslaughter.

Since Xiao Wan had no criminal record before, his sentence was lower than the maximum sentence.

  The trial of the case began on March 29, and a total of 45 witnesses were summoned by the prosecution and defense.

  Before the verdict, a large number of media and people waited for Xiao Wan to pronounce the verdict at the door of the court.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz declared a state of emergency in the state in response to the social unrest that may be triggered by the ruling.

  Due to the verdict in the Freud case, the White House canceled its scheduled speech on American employment that afternoon.

  On May 25, 2020, African-American Freud was killed by Xiaowan kneeling on his neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds on the streets of Minneapolis.

Since the end of May last year, Freud's death triggered a long and large-scale wave of violence against police enforcement and protests against racial discrimination throughout the United States.

  As the case entered the adjudication stage, tensions reappeared in many places in the United States.

According to comprehensive US media reports, Minnesota Governor Waltz declared a state of emergency in seven counties in the state on the 19th and requested additional law enforcement assistance from neighboring states.

Currently, more than 3,000 National Guard soldiers have assisted law enforcement in Minneapolis.

The National Guard of the District of Columbia, the capital, issued a statement on the 19th, saying that 250 members of the National Guard were dispatched to help respond to possible protests and riots in the capital area.

(CCTV reporter Xu Dezhi)

  (Edit Chen Yufan)