Derek Chauvin trial: Minneapolis police chief expected to testify – live
- Murder trial of former officer Chauvin enters second week
- Police chief Medaria Arradondo due to testify for prosecution
3.19pm BST
The judge in the Derek Chauvin trial, Peter Cahill, has entered the courtroom, in his customary black face mask to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
He’s just told the jury that there are some off-video, off-audio legal matters to deal with, so court is effectively going off air for a little while as that takes place, prior to witnesses being called and proceedings getting underway in public.
3.15pm BST
If, as expected, Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo testifies for the prosecution in the trial of the officer he fired after George Floyd’s killing, Derek Chauvin, it will be one of the most significant moments of the proceedings.
When Arradondo was a lieutenant, in 2007, he and four other African American officers sued the department alleging discrimination in promotions, pay and discipline.
Only about 20% of Minneapolis residents are Black, but about 60% of use-of-force incidents with the city’s police involve Black people … the city’s police officers use force against Black people at seven times the rate of white people.
Body-weight pinning, which Derek Chauvin used on Mr Floyd, is one of the most popular use-of-force mechanisms in Minneapolis and it, too, is employed in a racially disparate way.
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