A man who sat on the jury for Derek Chauvin’s murder trial is now speaking out about his experience. Brandon Mitchell, who was previously known as “Juror 52” in the courtroom, interviewed with several media outlets on Wednesday (April 28) including “CBS This Morning” with Gayle King and “Good Morning America.”
Mitchell, who is a Black 31-year-old basketball coach in Minneapolis, described the emotional impact of having to watch footage of George Floyd’s murder during the three-week-long trial.
“We were just stressed because every day we had to come in and watch a Black man die; that alone is stressful,” he said. “Coming in each and every day and having to watch somebody die is stressful enough by itself.”
“There were a few days where I was like, I don’t know how I’m going to make it in this next day,” he continued. “Especially me as a Black man and a larger Black man. I’m about 6’4” and 250 pounds and some of the testimony is just saying how size could be a risk or a threat, whereas me, I’m a gentle giant.”
Mitchell also said that testimonies from Dr. Martin Tobin, the pulmonologist; and mixed martial arts fighter Donald Williams stood out to him the most.
“I thought he just broke it down in a manner that was easy for all the jurors to understand and I didn’t think that there wasn’t any way for the defense to come back after that,” Mitchell said of Tobin. “To me, the case was done at that point almost.”
After two days and 10 hours of deliberation, the 12-person jury found Chauvin guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. As reported by REVOLT, Chauvin’s sentencing date was recently rescheduled to June 25.
“I couldn’t say what the proper sentencing should be,” Mitchell told King. “I think we came up with the right verdict: guilty on all charges.”
Speaking with “Good Morning America,” Mitchell also offered his condolences to Floyd’s family and said, “His name is going to live on.”
“His legacy is now cemented in history. It’s now become so much bigger than him as an individual,” he added. “It will hopefully create some change within society.”
Watch Mitchell’s interviews with “CBS This Morning” and “Good Morning America” on Twitter below.