Chauvin Guilty In George Floyd's Murder: NYC Reacts To Verdict

NEW YORK CITY — Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis cop who knelt on George Floyd's neck for nine agonizing minutes, is guilty of murder and manslaughter.

Jurors delivered the verdict Tuesday afternoon to a nation — and New York City — on edge. Floyd's caught-on-video death under Chauvin's knee prompted waves of protests last spring, heated confrontations between demonstrators and police and nationwide reckoning on race.

In the end, jurors agreed with what millions of New Yorkers and people across the country shouted for months — Chauvin murdered Floyd.

They found him guilty on all counts — second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter.

Chauvin will be sentenced in eight weeks. He'll be held in custody without bail until then.

New York City dwellers and officials braced for the verdict for weeks.

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday declared the city ready for "any outcome." Moments after Chauvin's guilty verdict, he tweeted that "justice was served" after the horror of Floyd's death.

"The reality of racism in this nation finally hit a boiling point, the pain of more than 400 years of injustice," he tweeted. "Today, justice was served."

Quickly planned "emergency" protests were announced in the minutes before the verdict.

Marches for George Floyd were planned for Times Square and Atlantic Avenue and Fort Greene Place in Brooklyn at 6 p.m. Other protests were planned for 7 p.m. at Barclays Center and Grand Army Plaza.

As NYPD officers prepared for mass demonstrations, the Legal Aid Society tweeted out advice for protesters.

"Please spread the word," they tweeted, along with a link.

State Sen. Zellnor Myrie, who was pepper sprayed by NYPD cops in the first wave of protests, quickly sent a message to Commissioner Dermot Shea.

"@NYPDShea will you call on your cops to be peaceful tonight?" he tweeted.

Kapil Longani, counsel to the mayor, issued a statement that the administration stands in support of "peaceful protest."

A spate of New York City's elected leaders, public officials and political groups quickly weighed in on the verdict, with relief and outrage over years of systemic racism in equal measure.

This story will be updated.