Hundreds Rally In Name Of George Floyd In Loop As Officer's Trial Is Set To Get Under Way In Minneapolis

CHICAGO (CBS Chicago/CBS News) -- Hundreds of people marched, chanted, and rallied in the Loop Monday evening in the name of George Floyd.

The Chicago rally was held at Federal Plaza.

Jury selection was supposed to begin on Monday in the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, who is accused of killing Floyd.

But jury selection was paused as prosecutors ask an appeals court to weigh a district court judge's ruling that jury selection may proceed while appeals over charges are still pending.

Floyd's May 2020 killing drew outrage and a worldwide reckoning on police reform and racial justice. Chauvin, the police officer who was seen in a disturbing video kneeling on the neck of the unarmed Black man for more than nine minutes, is charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The other three officers involved in the fatal May 2020 arrest will be tried jointly in August.

The jury selection process had been scheduled to launch Monday morning at the Hennepin County Courthouse in downtown Minneapolis, where protesters also gathered calling for justice for Floyd. Prospective jurors were sent home for the day after prosecutors filed the request. Chauvin appeared in the courtroom, where limited people were allowed over COVID-19 concerns, wearing a blue suit.
Appearing before Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill, Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank argued that jury selection should be stayed until recent appeals over whether to add a charge against Chauvin are resolved.

On Friday, a Minnesota appeals court handed a win to prosecutors in their bid to re-instate the additional charge against Chauvin: third-degree murder. Chauvin was initially charged with the count, which carries a penalty of up to 25 years in prison. But Cahill dropped the count in October, ruling that Minnesota law only permits for the charge against someone who causes a death in an act that endangers multiple people, not in an act directed at one person.

CBS News' Erin Donaghue contributed to this report.