It was a very dramatic time for a Minneapolis radio reporter before the guilty verdict was given in the Derek Chauvin murder trial.
WCCO morning anchor Steve Simpson, who’s studios are about a block from the courthouse, tells us while the city is breathing much easier now, you could cut the tension in the air with a knife in the moments before.
“I swear this city went silent for a few minutes until that verdict was read. It’s hard to describe the few minutes leading up to it, and then the several minutes afterward when it was jubilation, it was quite something to witness,” says Simpson.
He adds if Chauvin had been acquitted of the death of George Floyd last May, he wonders if the 3,000 national guard troops would have been enough to stop unrest.
Simpson adds he and his colleagues are amazed at the global implications the George Floyd death brought.
He says he has been fortunate with his career to have covered many memorable events over the years, such as the death of the singer Prince, but this ranks near the top. “This had all the other implications of race, and injustice, and all of the other things that this George Floyd case brought, to again, not only to the Twin Cities, but also to the country and the world. I think that surprised all of us.”
Simpson notes the US government is starting an investigation into Minneapolis police.
George Floyd, a black man, died May 25th, 2020, while in Minneapolis police custody. Former officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder in the death, after video showed the officers’ handling of Floyd, a video which drew people from around the world to protest in many cities.
