Maxine Waters possibly taints Chauvin trial verdict with her calls to violence

April 20, 2021 KT1 US 0

House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif., presides over a markup of pending bills, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 20, 2021. Yesterday, the judge overseeing the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer in the death of George Floyd says recent comments by Rep. Waters are "abhorrent" and says they could lead to a verdict being appealed and overturned. Rep. Waters had joined protesters on Saturday and called for protests to escalate if Derek Chauvin was not found guilty on murder charges. Chauvin's defense attorney had motioned for a mistrial in light of Waters' comments. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Rep. Maxine Waters presided over a markup of pending bills, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 20, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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UPDATED 10:32 AM PT – Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), in an attempt to show solidarity with Black Lives Matter protesters in Brooklyn Center Minneapolis, managed to put herself in quite the difficult situation.

“But I am very hopeful and I hope that we are going to get a verdict. That they’ll say ‘guilty guilty guilty,’ and if we don’t, we can not go away,” Waters said while being interviewed on scene of the protest. “We’ve got to stay on the street, and we’ve got to get more active, we’ve got to get more confrontational, we’ve got to make sure that they know we mean business.”

Less than a month after leftist psycho murders cop at the Capitol, Maxine Waters back to openly inciting violence against law enforcement – but still on social media! https://t.co/D6PXfrmT14

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) April 20, 2021

While this was seen by critics as a call to violence against officers tasked with monitoring the conduct of protests, it may have served even bigger implications in the Derek Chauvin trial because she openly demanded a guilty verdict.

As the Honorable Judge Peter Cahill said, her comments would give Chauvin’s defense team enough reason to appeal a possibly guilty ruling.

“Threatening acts of violence in relation to this specific case, it’s mind-boggling to me, Judge,” defense attorney Eric Nelson said.

In this image from video, defense attorney Eric Nelson, left, and defendant, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, speak to Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill after the judge has put the trial into the hands of the jury. Monday, April 19, 2021, in the trial of Chauvin, in the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minn. (Court TV via AP, Pool)

“Well, I’ll give you that Congresswoman Waters may have given you something on appeal, that may result in this whole trial being overturned,” Judge Cahill responded.

The concern with her statement isn’t only that people could view it as marching orders to escalate the intensity of their protests, but it could also influence the jury’s decision in the Chauvin trial verdict.

Many worry her calls to action could taint the due process of the trial, as jury members could fear retaliation from activists or some level of responsibility for mass destruction of U.S. cities. In totality, Water’s comments are being called highly irresponsible for someone who has been a member of Congress for 30 years.

The consequences of the Chauvin trial verdict could have increased significantly as a result of her actions and words.