Øyvind Thuestad 
USAs president Joe Biden sier at bevisene mot politimannen Derek Chauvin som er tiltalt for å ha drept George Floyd er «overveldende».
Den amerikanske presidenten har hittil ikke uttalt seg om rettssaken, men tar nå stilling til bevisene i saken mens juryen ennå sitter og diskuterer. Dom i saken er ventet tidligst i kveld norsk tid.
– Det er overveldende etter mitt syn, sier Biden om bevisene i saken.
«It’s overwhelming, in my view,» Biden said in the Oval Office, where he was meeting with Hispanic lawmakers. «I wouldn’t say that unless the jury was sequestered.» (CNN)
Juryen er i prinsippet isolert fra omverdenen, men det er ingen garanti for at Bidens uttalelser ikke lekkes til jurymedlemmene.
Biden sa i en telefonsamtale i dag med familiemedlemmer av Floyd at han ber om at juryen i rettssaken mot politimannen avgir en korrekt dom.
«I can only imagine the pressure and the anxiety that they’re feeling,» he said. «They’re a good family and they’re calling for peace and tranquility no matter what the verdict is.»
Speaking earlier Tuesday, Floyd’s brother, Philonise, described his conversation with the President in an interview on NBC.
«He was just calling. He knows how it is to lose a family member. And he knows that the process of what we’re going through so he was just letting us know that he was praying for us, and hoping that everything would come out to be OK,» Philonise Floyd said.
Det hvite hus har bekreftet at telefonsamtalen fant sted.
Bidens uttalelse kommer på toppen av uttalelsen som kongressrepresentanten Maxine Waters kom med da hun besøkte Minneapolis i helgen. Waters oppfordret demonstrantene til å bli mer konfronterende. Det er satt inn tusenvis av Nasjonalgardister og politi som forsøker å holde mengden under kontroll, uten å lykkes. Det skyldes delvis at rettsapparatet ikke fungerer. Arresterte slippes rett ut, ofte uten kausjon.
On Monday, the judge in the Chauvin trial said that he wished elected officials would stop referencing the case «especially in a manner that is disrespectful to the rule of law» so as to let the judicial process play out as intended.
Judge Peter Cahill was referring to controversial comments over the weekend by Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters, who urged protesters in Minnesota to «stay in the street» and «get more confrontational» if Chauvin is not found guilty.
«I’ll give you that Congresswoman Waters may have given you something on appeal that may result in this whole trial being overturned,» Cahill told Chauvin’s attorney.
Biden ‘praying’ Chauvin jury reaches ‘right verdict,’ calling case ‘overwhelming’
