Media

Chauvin jurors give first interview since guilty verdict

by Monique Beals - 11/01/21 6:39 PM ET

In their first interview since convicting former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd, seven jurors spoke to CNN about their experience during the trial.

“Race wasn’t even ever mentioned in the three and a half weeks that we were in that courtroom, and it was never mentioned during deliberations, I don’t believe,” juror Sherri Belton Hardeman told host Don Lemon during the interview.

Another, Nicole Deters, added that the cause of the trial was ultimately “racism within the system.”

“But when it came down to all three verdicts, it was based on the evidence and the facts 100 percent,” Deters said.

The jurors recalled watching the gruesome video of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck as Floyd called out for his mother and said he could not breathe.

Belton Hardeman said the footage “is definitely in my spirit, and it will always be there.”

“Watching George Floyd call for his mom just broke my heart. Me being a mom, a Black mom, a Black grandmother. We call out for our mom when we’re hurting, when we’re in pain and when we’re in need. … Unfortunately, his mom could not come to his rescue. In fact, no one came to his rescue,” Hardeman said.

Deters recalled, “In the back of my head, I’m going, ‘Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Just breathe. Just breathe,” as she watched the full length video for the first time in court.

“And then I think to myself, ‘George Floyd couldn’t breathe.’ I’m telling myself to breathe so I don’t pass out having to watch this. But I’m watching a man who couldn’t breathe,” Deters said on CNN.