They completed the jury for the trial of Derek Chauvin, accused of the death of George Floyd

Derek Chauvin is charged with murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd, an African American man who died after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against his neck for over nine minutes.

The murder of African American George Floyd occurred in Minneapolis on 25 May 2020 was videotaped and sparked protests against police abuse and racism across the country.

The jury is currently composed of 15 people, one more than necessary, because Magistrate Peter Cahill wants to have a substitute in case a member of the jury withdraws before the “de facto” start of the trial on 29 March, when the parties will present their opening arguments.

If no one withdraws, the last member of the jury chosen, a white male of about 20 years, you can go home then. During the trial, the jury will consist of 12 persons and two will act as alternates.

During the selection process, which lasted about two weeks, the judge, the prosecution and the defense interviewed a Hundreds of candidates, but most were rejected because they had strong opinions and feelings about the death of Floyd, whose images could be seen on all television networks and social networks.

Chauvin was filmed by security cameras and passerby mobiles as he pressed with his knee for 8 minutes and 46 seconds Floyd’s neck, who, handcuffed and lying on the ground, called to his mother and repeated two dozen times: “I can’t breathe.”

Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of trying to use a false bill so of $ 25 dollars in a supermarket.

The ex-police officer is accused of three crimes that, from highest to lowest severity are, second degree murder punishable by up to 29 years in prison, third degree murder with a maximum sentence of 25 years and murder in the second degree, leading up to 10 years of deprivation of liberty.

Aggression against Floyd sparked the largest anti-racism protests in the country since the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr in the late 1960s 60.

An important factor in the trial will be racism and, therefore, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), one of the most important groups in the country in the defense of civil rights, has asked that the jury include members with different skin color and different social classes.

Of the 15 selected people, nine people are defined as white and six they are of other races. Also, nine are women and six are men.

The oldest person is an African-American woman of about 60 years and the youngest are about 20 years, and they are two white men, one white woman and another woman who identifies as multiracial.

The trial will unfold amid massive security measures at the Minneapolis courthouse, which is already surrounded by concrete barriers and barbed wire in fear of violent protests and the arrival of far-right militias or members of racist groups.