‘A giant step forward’

US President Joe Biden called systemic racism a "stain on our nation's soul" in a televised address to the nation Tuesday after a white former police officer was convicted of murdering a Black man during an arrest. 

Biden spoke out after a jury in the Midwestern city of Minneapolis found Derek Chauvin guilty of intentionally suffocating handcuffed George Floyd as he lay defenseless, with the officer's knee pressing on his neck for more than nine minutes.

As he lay facedown on the ground, Floyd repeatedly said "I can't breathe."

The jury deliberated less than 11 hours before finding 45-year-old Chauvin guilty of all three charges against him: second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter.

A crowd gathered outside the heavily guarded downtown Minneapolis courtroom erupted in cheers, and some wept tears of relief, when the verdicts were announced after a three-week trial that had an entire nation on edge.

Chauvin, who had been free on bail, was put in handcuffs after Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill read out the unanimous verdicts reached by the racially diverse, seven-woman, five-man jury.

Chauvin faces up to 40 years in prison on the most serious charge -- second-degree murder. His sentencing will take place in eight weeks, Judge Cahill said.

The 46-year-old Floyd's death during his May 25, 2020 arrest for allegedly passing a counterfeit $20 bill sparked protests against racial injustice and police brutality around the world.

Ahead of the verdict, cities across the United States had been braced for potential unrest and National Guard troops have been deployed in Minneapolis.

Biden called members of the Floyd family to say he was "relieved" by the verdicts, then later he and Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the nation in televised remarks.

"This can be a giant step forward in the march towards justice in America," Biden said, as he called on citizens to "unite" against racism and violence.

Harris, America's first female and first Black vice president, told the family it was "a day of justice in America," and that "history will look back at this moment."

Floyd family lawyer Ben Crump hailed the conviction as a landmark victory for civil rights and a springboard to legislation currently before Congress to reform police forces in their dealings with minorities.

Three other former police officers involved in Floyd's arrest are to go on trial later this year.