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Updated: April 21, 8:01 a.m. | Posted: April 20, 5:38 p.m.

A jury found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin 

 Tuesday in the killing of George Floyd while in police custody last year. 

George Floyd's brother, Philonise Floyd, was in the courtroom when Judge Peter Cahill read the three verdicts.

Before they were read, Philonise Floyd appeared to pray, with his hands clasped over his face. As the first guilty verdict was read, his hands began shaking, according to a reporter who was inside the courtroom. By the third reading, his hands were shaking back and forth with his head down and eyes closed, as his head nodded up and down. 

"I was just praying that they would find him guilty,” Philonise Floyd said. "I was just praying they would find him guilty. As an African American, we usually never get justice.” 

Gov. Tim Walz called the verdicts "an important step forward for justice in Minnesota. The trial is over, but our work has only begun."

Minnesota, he added, must work to rebuild confidence between police and communities of color. "Too many Black people have lost — and continue to lose — their lives at the hands of law enforcement in our state,” an apparent reference to the recent 

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office oversaw Chauvin’s prosecution, called the convictions “accountability, which is the first step towards justice.”

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris

 delivered their remarks Tuesday evening.

 Speaking from the White House Tuesday evening, Biden said the conviction “can be a giant step forward" for the nation in the fight against systemic racism. The president and Vice President Kamala Harris went on to call for Congress to act swiftly to address policing reform.

“It’s not enough," Biden said of the verdict. "We can’t stop here.”

Here's how activists, legislators and community members are reacting to the verdicts. 

Daniel R. Meachum, attorney for Roxie Washington, the mother of Floyd’s only child, Gianna Floyd

Darnella Frazier, whose video of Chauvin pressing his knee into Floyd's neck sparked worldwide outrage when it went viral online

Minneapolis City Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins

Minneapolis City Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins.

Minneapolis police Chief Medaria Arradondo

Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler

The Police Officer's Federation of Minneapolis

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Crime, Law and Justice

Social Issues

Conversations around race and racial justice

Minnesota News

Twin Cities News

NewsPartners

The murder of George Floyd

MPR News Staff

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"I was just praying they would find him guilty," George Floyd's brother, Philonise Floyd, told reporters after exiting the courtroom.

'An important step forward for justice': Reactions to Chauvin's guilty verdicts

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