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Former Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted Tuesday of murder and manslaughter for pinning George Floyd to the pavement with his knee on the Black man鈥檚 neck in a case that touched off worldwide protests, violence, and a furious reexamination of racism and policing in the United States.

Mr. Chauvin could be sent to prison for decades. The judge said sentencing will take place in eight weeks. 鈥�

The jury of six white people and six Black or multiracial people came back with its verdict after about 10 hours of deliberations over two days. Mr. Chauvin was found guilty on all charges: second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.

His face was obscured by a COVID-19 mask, and little reaction could be seen beyond his eyes darting around the courtroom.

His bail was immediately revoked and he was led away with his hands cuffed behind his back.

As the judge asked jurors if they reached a verdict, a hush fell on the crowd 300 strong in a park adjacent to the courthouse, with people listening to the proceedings on their cellphones. When the final guilty verdict was announced, the crowd roared, many people hugging, some shedding tears.

At the intersection where Floyd was pinned down, a crowd chanted, 鈥淥ne down, three to go!鈥� 鈥� a reference to the three other fired Minneapolis police officers facing trial in August on charges of aiding and abetting murder in Floyd's death.

Janay Henry, who lives nearby, said she felt grateful and relieved.

鈥淚 feel grounded. I can feel my feet on the concrete," she said, adding that she was looking forward to the 鈥渘ext case with joy and optimism and strength.鈥�

An ecstatic Whitney Lewis leaned halfway out a car window in a growing traffic jam of revelers waving a Black Lives Matter flag. 鈥淛ustice was served,鈥� the 32-year-old from Minneapolis said. 鈥淚t means George Floyd can now rest.鈥�

Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell, who pounded away at Chauvin's witnesses during the trial, said the verdict sends a message to Floyd's family 鈥渢hat he was somebody, that his life matters.鈥�

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison commended the bystanders at Floyd's slow-motion death who "raised their voices because they knew that what they were seeing was wrong,鈥� and then 鈥漷old the whole world" what they saw.

Ellison read off the names of others killed in encounters with police and said: 鈥淭his has to end. We need true justice. That鈥檚 not one case. That鈥檚 social transformation that says no one is beneath the law and no one is above it.鈥�

The verdict was read in a courthouse ringed with concrete barriers and razor wire and patrolled by National Guard troops, in a city on edge against another round of unrest 鈥� not just because of the Chauvin case but because of the deadly police shooting of a young Black man, Daunte Wright, in a Minneapolis suburb on April 11.

The jurors identities were kept secret and will not be released until the judge decides it is safe to do so.

Three other former Minneapolis officers charged with aiding and abetting murder in Mr. Floyd鈥檚 death will stand trial in August.

Mr. Floyd died May 25 after being arrested on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill for a pack of cigarettes at a corner market. He panicked, pleaded that he was claustrophobic, and struggled with police when they tried to put him in a squad car. They put him on the ground instead.

The centerpiece of the case was the excruciating bystander video of Mr. Floyd gasping, repeatedly, 鈥淚 can鈥檛 breathe,鈥� and onlookers yelling at Mr. Chauvin to stop as the officer pressed his knee on or close to Floyd鈥檚 neck for what authorities say was 9 1/2 minutes. Mr. Floyd slowly went silent and limp.

Prosecutors played the footage at the earliest opportunity, during opening statements, with Jerry Blackwell telling the jury: 鈥淏elieve your eyes.鈥� And it was shown over and over, analyzed one frame at a time by witnesses on both sides.

In the wake of Mr. Floyd鈥檚 death, demonstrations and scattered violence broke out in Minneapolis, around the country and beyond. The furor also led to the removal of Confederate statues and other offensive symbols such as Aunt Jemima.

In the months that followed, numerous states and cities restricted the use of force by police, revamped disciplinary systems, or subjected police departments to closer oversight.

The 鈥淏lue Wall of Silence鈥� that often protects police accused of wrongdoing crumbled after Mr. Floyd鈥檚 death: The Minneapolis police chief quickly called it 鈥渕urder鈥� and fired all four officers involved, and the city reached a staggering $27 million settlement with Mr. Floyd鈥檚 family as jury selection was underway.

Police-procedure experts and law enforcement veterans inside and outside the Minneapolis department, including the chief, testified for the prosecution that Mr. Chauvin used excessive force and went against his training.

Medical experts for the prosecution said Mr. Floyd died of asphyxia, or lack of oxygen, because his breathing was constricted by the way he was held down on his stomach, his hands cuffed behind him, a knee on his neck, and his face jammed against the ground.

Mr. Chauvin鈥檚 attorney Eric Nelson called a police use-of-force expert and a forensic pathologist to help make the case that Mr. Chauvin acted reasonably against a struggling suspect and that Mr. Floyd died because of an underlying heart condition and his illegal drug use.

Mr. Floyd had high blood pressure, an enlarged heart, and narrowed arteries, and fentanyl and methamphetamine were found in his system.

Under the law, police have certain leeway to use force and are judged according to whether their actions were 鈥渞easonable鈥� under the circumstances.

The defense also tried to make the case that Mr. Chauvin and the other officers were hindered in their duties by what they perceived as a growing, hostile crowd.

Mr. Chauvin did not testify, and all that the jury or the public ever heard by way of an explanation from him came from a police body-camera video after an ambulance had taken the 6-foot-4, 223-pound Mr. Floyd away. Mr. Chauvin told a bystander: 鈥淲e gotta control this guy 鈥檆ause he鈥檚 a sizable guy ... and it looks like he鈥檚 probably on something.鈥�

The prosecution鈥檚 case also included tearful testimony from onlookers who said the police kept them back when they protested what was happening. Darnella Frazier, who shot the crucial video, said Mr. Chauvin just gave the bystanders a 鈥渃old鈥� and 鈥渉eartless鈥� stare.

She and others said they felt a sense of helplessness and lingering guilt from witnessing Mr. Floyd鈥檚 slow-motion death.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been nights I stayed up, apologizing and apologizing to George Floyd for not doing more, and not physically interacting and not saving his life,鈥� Ms. Frazier testified, while the cashier at the neighborhood market, Christopher Martin, lamented that 鈥渢his could have been avoided鈥� if only he had rejected the suspect $20 bill.

To make Mr. Floyd more than a crime statistic in the eyes of the jury, the prosecution called to the stand his girlfriend, who told the story of how they met and how they struggled with addiction to opioids, and his younger brother Philonise. He recalled how George helped teach him to catch a football and made 鈥渢he best banana mayonnaise sandwiches.鈥�

This story was reported by The Associated Press.