People gather outside store where Floyd died as jury delivers Chauvin verdict

A crowd of people gathered Tuesday outside Cup Foods, the site where where former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on George Floyd for over nine minutes, as they waited to hear the verdict in Chauvin’s murder trial.

Videos posted on social media before the guilty verdict was announced showed people gathered around a memorial to Floyd, chanting, “Say his name! George Floyd!”

BuzzFeed News reporter Brianna Sacks reported that the store’s owner had said they would be closing in case Chauvin was found not guilty.

A growing crowd here outside Cup Foods as people gather to hear the verdict next to George Floyd’s memorial. Activists shout “say his name” next to where his body had laid on the concrete pic.twitter.com/pUmoxfkJH5

— Brianna Sacks (@bri_sacks) April 20, 2021

Floyd had purchased a pack of cigarettes at Cup Foods, where a cashier suspected the $20 bill that was used to pay for the cigarettes was counterfeit based on the strange coloring of the bill. It is unknown whether Floyd was aware that the bill could have been counterfeit.

Scene at George Floyd Square outside Cup Foods is filling with people. Smells of incense, table of food setup, lots of dogs and kids gathered. Speaker now is calling on people of faith. “There’s no way God let this man die in vain.” pic.twitter.com/3EZ57KHqh6

— Kim Bellware (@bellwak) April 20, 2021

Chauvin was found guilty on all three charges against him on Tuesday shortly after 5 p.m. ET. After news of the verdict, the crowd erupted into cheers.

Live as the verdict was read and people erupted into cheers and started sobbing when the jury announced Derek Chauvin was guilty of murdering George Floyd pic.twitter.com/FMhpk9oCAN

— Brianna Sacks (@bri_sacks) April 20, 2021