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On April 17, 2021, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters visited a racial justice protest in Brooklyn Center, a suburb of Minneapolis. Answering questions from reporters, the California Democrat said that if Derek Chauvin was not found guilty of murder, protesters would have to stay in the street, fight for justice, and get more confrontational. Chauvin is on trial for the murder of George Floyd. Floyd died on May 25, 2020, after he was arrested by police on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill. Video showed Chauvin, then a Minneapolis police officer, pressing his knee on Floyd's neck for over nine minutes. Waters' attendance at the protest on that Saturday evening came just two days before jury deliberations began in the trial. Right-wing activist and One America News correspondent Jack Posobiec shared a video originally published by @DDarnae that showed Waters speaking to cameras: In the video, Waters answered a series of questions. She said that she hoped Chauvin was found guilty of first-degree murder. She also said that protesters would need to stay in the streets and get more confrontational in their fight for justice, should Chauvin walk free. The transcript below begins at the 0:21 mark in the Twitter video: CNN referred to the remarks as controversial. Fox News said that Waters appeared to incite protesters in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. Answering her partisan critics in an interview with TheGrio, Waters said her remarks were not an incitement to violence. I am nonviolent, she said. I talk about confronting the justice system, confronting the policing that’s going on, I’m talking about speaking up. I’m talking about legislation. I’m talking about elected officials doing what needs to be done to control their budgets and to pass legislation. Fox News also reported that video from FOX 9 in Minneapolis showed Waters also urging protesters to take their voice to the ballot box: On April 19, Judge Peter Cahill, who is presiding over Chauvin's trial, commented about what Waters said. NBC News reported that Cahill denied a motion by Chauvin's defense attorney for a mistrial on the grounds of Waters' remarks, but that Cahill called Waters' words abhorrent. I'll give you that Congresswoman Waters may have given you something on appeal that may result in this whole trial being overturned, the judge said. In sum, it was true that Waters told protesters that, should Chauvin not be found guilty of murder, they should stay in the street, fight for justice, and get more confrontational, though she later said she was not speaking of engaging in violent actions.
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