The whole world is watching

The trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd will be live streamed by Court TV when it commences this Monday morning. I think the live stream is accessible online here. Court TV otherwise explains how to watch here.

I plan on covering the trial from the Media Business Center across the street from the Hennepin County Government Center where the trial is to be held before Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill. The court communications staff hosted the press for a “walkaround” of the media set-up yesterday morning.

The Government Center is a 24-story building that sits on two city blocks with a tunnel in the middle where it spans Sixth Street. Concrete barricades and fencing topped with concertina wire now surround the entire building. Sixth Street has been closed. Indeed, regular business has been shut down inside the Government Center itself.

Entering and exiting the Government Center, jurors — all residents of Hennepin County — will necessarily understand that unprotected areas outside Government Center stand in sufferance to their verdict. Any prospect of peace requires findings of guilt. Incidentally, it is not the supporters of Donald Trump who threaten the safety of the Twin Cities. The idea that Derek Chauvin can get a fair trial under the circumstances seems hypothetical at best.

Forty media outlets have been assigned seats to cover the trial from the Media Business Center across the street from the Government Center. The seats are assigned in eight rows of five. The outlets with assigned seats give an idea of the worldwide interest in the trial:

Row 1: Chronicle Fashion Guide, Georgia Fort, Courthouse News Service, People’s World, Der Spiegel

Row 2: GeorgeFloyd.com, Asahi Shimbum, Thomson Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Axios

Row 3: Mainichi Newspapers, Associated Press, Power Line, Minnesota Daily, Agence France-Presse

Row 4: New York Times, Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, USA Today

Row 5: WCCO Radio, KMOJ-FM, MPR News, NPR, Washington Post

Row 6: CGTN America, ITN, Law & Crime Productions, Telemundo, Ruptly

Row 7: Court TV, FOX News, NBC News, KARE 11, Black News Channel

Row 8: Frontline PBS, FOX 9, WCCO-TV, Minneapolis Television Network, KSTP

The Minnesota courts generally prohibit television coverage. The live stream of the trial follows the motion of defendants (including Chauvin), opposed by the state, granted by Judge Cahill in a memorandum and order dated November 4.

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