Derek Chauvin news: Floyd killer in solitary as police defend Nicholas Reardon shooting Ma’Khia Bryant

The Washington DC National Guard has activated approximately 250 members of the guard in the nation’s capital ahead of the verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis.

The guardsmen will help provide “a safe environment for our fellow citizens to exercise their first amendment right,” a press release from Captain Chelsi Johnson said.

Dr Christopher Rodriguez, director of the DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, requested guardsmen to assist police on behalf of the DC Metropolitan Police Department.

The release said that the guardsmen will assist police with street closures “at multiple intersections in order to provide safety in and around pedestrian areas.

“This is our home, and we are dedicated to the safety and security of our fellow citizens of the District and their right to safely and peacefully protest.”

Full report from Louise Hall here:

White House press secretary Jen Psaki has said that President Joe Biden was “not trying to influence” the Derek Chauvin murder trial by phoning the family of George Floyd.

President Biden confirmed to reporters on Tuesday that he called Mr Floyd’s family after the jury had been sequestered to tell them that he was praying for them.

“I’ve come to know George’s family, not just in passing. I’ve spent time with them, I’ve spent time with his little daughter Gianna — you should see this beautiful child — and his brother, both brothers, as a matter of fact.

“So I can only imagine the pressure and anxiety that they’re feeling. And so I waited until the jury was sequestered, and then I called,” he said.

Following a backlash after his remarks, Ms Psaki said during the White House press conference on Tuesday that Mr Biden is “not looking to influence” the murder trial.

She confirmed that the president only spoke to the family after the jury was sequestered, adding that he “has been touched on the impact on the family, hence he called the family yesterday and had that discussion.”

The jury is deliberating the verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the white former Minneapolis police officer charged with murdering George Floyd, an unarmed Black man.

The trial, which saw closing arguments on Monday 19 April, focused on Mr Floyd’s final moments, where Mr Chauvin knelt on his neck for close to nine minutes as he pleaded for air.

Authorities in Minneapolis built barbed wire barriers and protective walls ahead of the trial of the former Minneapolis police officer, which are still standing ahead of the verdict. Mr Floyd’s death in May 2020 set off nationwide protests that lasted for several months last summer.

The trial is one of the biggest civil rights cases in a generation. Here’s what you need to know about the case.

Officials on the Hill are considering the return of security fences around the US Capitol as concerns grow over protests in response to the Derek Chauvin trial, according to Politico.

The outlet reports discussions about the fence going back up just weeks after coming down come as Joe Biden prepares to deliver his address to the joint session of Congress next week.

The pair of events, which could occur with days of each other, have led to a “new wave of anxiety” as the Capitol reopens on Wednesday.

Quoting an anonymous congressional source, Politico says the $2m proposal would go before the Capitol Police Board for approval on Tuesday.

In first live interview in three years, the former president weighed in on the murder trial of former Minneapolis Police Department officer Derek Chauvinduring a recent interview, calling the process “fair”.

But in contrast to Joe Biden, who called for the “right verdict” to be delivered, Bush abstained from giving an indication on what verdict he thought would be a fair outcome.

“We’ll see what a jury of his peers says,” he said. “I think a lot of people have already made up their mind what the verdict ought to be. All I can tell you this is that if the trial is not conducted fairly, there is an appeal process.”

Graig Graziosi has the story.

The jury is expected to return with a verdict within the next hour, according to multiple reports.

Story to follow.

Last June, civil rights leader Rev Al Sharpton delivered a eulogy for George Floyd before a packed university auditorium in Minneapolis, describing the connection between one Black man’s death in police custody that May and the long struggle for equality, writes The Independent’s Josh Marcus.

“Now, not even a year later, Mr Sharpton will be eulogizing another unarmed Black man killed by police in the Minneapolis area: 20-year-old Daunte Wright, who now-former officer Kimberly Potter shot during a traffic stop on 11 April in the suburb of Brooklyn Centre.”

A verdict has been reached by jurors in the trial of Derek Chauvin.

After deliberating for less than a day, the jury will deliver their decision between 3.30pm and 4.30pm local time in Minneapolis.

Jurors have been considering whether the former police officer is guilty or innocent of the three charges against him for his part in the death of George Floyd in May 2020.

Mr Chauvin is facing charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.

The charges carry potential maximum sentences of 40 years, 25 years, and 10 years or a $20,000 fine, respectively.

The Independent’s Oliver O’Connell reports.

Speaking to CNN reporter Sara Snider, brother Philonise Floyd says a verdict reached in the rial of Derek Chauvin is historic for the country but for his family is personal.

“It’s gonna be alright,” he said. “It’s a historic case for America but a deeply personal case for us”

At somewhere around 10 hours, give or take, the deliberations by the jury were (relatively) fast given the nature of the trial and the scope of its ramifications.

Whether a fast verdict is good or bad for the prosecution or defence is anyone’s guess. But guess anyone will, as some legal analysts have begun doing online.

Former federal prosecutor and legal analyst for Politico, Renato Mariotti, says “it’s very bad news for Chauvin”,

“It is hard to believe that the jury could come back with a "not guilty" verdict this quickly, if ever, and his team had to be hoping for a hung jury,” he said in a tweet.