How Tomi Lahren, Ben Shapiro and Others Reacted to Derek Chauvin Verdict

Leading conservatives have posted their reactions to the Derek Chauvin verdict, with some questioning the former police officer's conviction for murdering George Floyd.

Right-wing commentators and lawmakers shared their takes on social media soon after a jury found Chauvin guilty of all three charges: second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter.

Floyd died after Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. A cellphone video of the incident sparked protests around the world.

Fox Nation host Tomi Lahren asked whether there would be rioting after the verdict.

Lahren tweeted: "Is the Foot Locker safe tonight? Should be, right? Justice, right? No need to steal in the name of George Floyd anymore, right?"

In a later tweet, she clarified her position: "I agree with the verdict of the trial. I don't agree and haven't ever agreed or given a pass to lawlessness in the name of George Floyd or anyone else. I also loudly condemned what happened on Jan 6th. I'm consistent. The Left isn't. BLM isn't."

Daily Wire host Ben Shapiro took issue with a comment by CNN's Don Lemon that "justice had been served"—and later tweeted that he believed the verdict was incorrect.

Quoting a tweet that mentioned Lemon's comment, Shapiro added: "And we all know he would never have said this had the reverse verdict been reached."

Twitch streamer @hasanabi was one of the many to reply to Shapiro, posting the comment: "Almost like there's a difference between a murderer going free and not."

This reply was liked more than 170,000 times, far more than the 14,700 likes for Shapiro's post.

Shapiro later tweeted that Chauvin's conviction for "murder rather than manslaughter was incorrect, in my view of the evidence," claiming that the former police officer was "convicted" of being racist.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) also shared her opinions on social media, claiming people in Washington D.C. were too scared to go outside following the verdict.

She wrote: "D.C. is completely dead tonight. People stayed in and were scared to go out because of fear of riots. Police are everywhere and have riot gear. BLM is the strongest terrorist threat in our country."

Rep. Mark Pocan, a Democrat who represents Wisconsin's 2nd district, hit back at her claims, posting: "I'm in DC like @mtgreenee and she is either the most obtuse person elected to Congress or the biggest liar. People are out and about on a warm night (so loud by me it's a bit hard to get to sleep) and there is no more police presence than usual. Let the lies rest, Q1."

Fox News host Tucker Carlson dedicated a portion of his show to his views on the trial.

On Tuesday night, Carlson appeared to question whether Chauvin was indeed guilty of the charges he had been convicted of by the jury just hours earlier.

He said: "If given the maximum sentence under the law, he will spend the rest of his life in prison. Is that fair punishment? Is the officer guilty of the specific crimes for which he was just convicted?"

Carlson continued: "We can debate all that, and over this hour we will. But here's what we can't debate: no mob has the right to destroy our cities. Not under any circumstances, not for any reason. No politician or media figure has the right to intimidate a jury, and no political party has the right to impose a different standard of justice on its own supporters."

His comments appeared to refer to Rep. Maxine Waters' remarks during a protest over the death of another Black man in police custody, Daunte Wright. On Saturday night, the Democratic lawmaker told demonstrators: "We've got to stay in the streets, and we've got to demand justice. We're looking for a guilty verdict. And if we don't we cannot go away. We've got to get more confrontational."

Democrats blocked a Republican effort to censure Waters for the comments. In an interview with news site The Grio, Waters said: "I am not worried that they're going to continue to distort what I say. This is who they are and this is how they act. I'm not going to be bullied by them."