By Dominic Tyalor-
The U.S national guard is on standby in case of wide protests, as America awaits the closing arguments in the murder trial of George Floyd.
Cities across America , particularly Minneapolis, are braced for potential citywide protests if Chauvin is acquitted or convicted on one of the lesser charges, with buildings across town boarded up, and National Guard troops already in place across the city.
On Sunday, Minnesota National Guard and Minneapolis police team were fired upon in a drive-by shooting Sunday morning, the state National Guard said in a news release.
The team was providing neighborhood security in Minneapolis when, at about 4:19 a.m. local time (5:19 a.m. ET), a light colored SUV drove by and several shots were fired.
Former Minneapolis officer, Derek Chauvin is facing a charge of second-degree murder, but the jury might choose to find him guilty of third-degree murder or manslaughter, or acquit him altogether.
Chauvin has pleaded not guilty to murder and manslaughter charges, arguing that he was following the training he received during his 19 years on the force.
An acquittal will lead to an unsightly mayhem that sends the message that racism is permitted in the U.S police force.”
Maxine Waters, one of the most influential Black members of Congress, joined protesters in Brooklyn Center shortly before a curfew on Saturday night, and spoke to them about the need to see accountability for Chauvin.
“I hope that we’re going to get a verdict that says, guilty, guilty, guilty,” Waters said. “And if we don’t, we cannot go away.”
“Not manslaughter, no,” Waters added. “This is guilty for murder.”
In Chicago, at least 1,000 people demonstrated in Logan Square on Friday night, in the wake of the public release of a video showing the police killing of 13-year-old Adam Toledo.
Activist groups in Chicago there said that multiple young people at the protest were arrested and at least one 17-year-old seriously assaulted by police. Two young people were arrested, including the 20-year-old son of a Black Lives Matter Chicago organizer, according to the Chicago Tribune.
“There are literal children dying every single day in the city of Chicago, and not just because of the lack of funding that goes to Black and Brown communities, but because of the excess funding put into the Chicago police department,” said Alycia Kamil, a 20-year-old organizer with Good Kids Mad City, who attended the Friday night protest.
Kamil said there was an obvious irony in seeing violent police crackdowns on young protesters in Chicago and elsewhere.
“You see youth protesting that they aren’t being protected, that they aren’t being funded, that they’re being murdered by the police, and the reaction is more violence,” Kamil said.
Hundreds of people were expected to gather on Sunday for a “peace walk” in Little Village, the predominantly Latino south-west Chicago neighborhood where Adam lived and was killed. Other vigils were being held around the city to call out racism, and remember Adam and others killed by police
All 12 jurors in the case will need to deliver a guilty verdict for Chauvin to be found guilty of the murder of George Floyd, after he knelt on his neck for nearly 9 mins.
The prosecution argues George Floyd died of Asphyxia , which s compression to the neck. The defense has argued that the presence of drugs in Floyd’s system caused his death,