The former Minneapolis police officer accused of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd was given a bail of $1.25 million at his first court appearance since being arrested. Derek Chauvin appeared before the judge virtually through a video feed Monday afternoon, ahead of Floyd's public viewing at a Houston-area church.
It's been two weeks since Chauvin was seen on video kneeling on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes, even as Floyd said he couldn't breathe and eventually stopped moving. Chauvin and three other responding officers, J. Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Tha were fired from the department the next day.
Chauvin was initially charged with third-degree murder, but it was upgraded to second-degree as the other officers were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. The officers had been called to the scene after a store clerk called police when the $20 bill Floyd used to purchase cigarettes was flagged by a money-counting machine as potentially counterfeit.
Lane's lawyer stormed out of a live TV interview with Piers Morgan after a verbal duel over his client's innocence.
"My client did nothing wrong!" the lawyer said in the interview.
The church holding Floyd's funeral Tuesday will be live-streaming the service so people around the country can watch. He will be laid to rest beside his mother.
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