Chauvin is the former police officer charged with the murder of Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25 last year. According to reports, members of the Minnesota National Guard were targeted in a drive-by shooting just hours after Waters made her controversial remarks.
Judge Peter Cahill, who oversaw the murder trial, criticized the comments by Waters. He said that the comments were "abhorrent" and that her words could be grounds for the defense to appeal a verdict.
Chauvin's attorney asked the judge to declare a mistrial over the lawmaker's comments, arguing that she had prejudiced the jury. Cahill denied the request but said that Waters may have handed the defense a lifeline anyway.
"I'll give you that Congresswoman Waters may have given you something on appeal that may result in this whole trial being overturned," Cahill said as arguments concluded Monday, April 19, and the jury began deliberations. (Related: Prepare for leftists to burn cities again, America: Prosecution in Derek Chauvin trial having trouble proving George Floyd was murdered.)
Waters has a history of advocating violent protests
Waters spoke in a Minneapolis suburb not far from where Chauvin was on trial. She told the protesters that if there was a not-guilty verdict "then we know that we got to not only stay in the street, but we have got to fight for justice."
"We've got to get more confrontational. We've got to make sure that they know that we mean business," Waters added.
Of the curfew, Waters said: "I don't think anything about curfew. Curfew means I want you all to stop talking. I want you to stop meeting. I want you to stop gathering. I don't agree with that." It was an interesting stance since Democrats are known supporters of lockdowns and social distancing.
Waters explained her side Sunday, April 18, on MSNBC.
"I wanted to be there, kind of as 'Auntie Maxine,' to show them that not only do I love them and I support them, but they can count on me to be with them at this terrible time in all of our lives," she said of her trip to Minnesota.
"Auntie Maxine" is the nickname Waters embraced when she became an early hero to younger progressives opposed to former President Donald Trump. She insisted she was "non-violent" and argued that Republicans were merely seizing on her remarks to "send a message to all of the white supremacists, the KKK."
Waters, chair of the House Financial Services Committee, was first elected in 1991 to represent south Los Angeles. She's now in her 15th term in Congress.
This is not the first time she has been accused of dangerous rhetoric. At a 2017 charity event in New York City, she told a crowd: "I will go and take Trump out tonight." A year later she urged a crowd to, if they ever saw a Trump official in public, "get out and you create a crowd. And you push back on them. And you tell them they're not welcome."
A year after she was first elected to Congress, her district was rocked by rioting after some white police officers who were filmed beating a black motorist were acquitted.
Waters refused to call those violent protests a riot despite leaving more than 60 people dead, more than 2,000 injured and hundreds of millions of dollars in property destroyed.
"If you call it a riot," the Los Angeles Times quoted her at the time, "it sounds like it was just a bunch of crazy people who went out and did bad things for no reason. I maintain it was somewhat understandable, if not acceptable. So I call it a rebellion." (Related: Left-wing media now changing the definition of “riot” in order to accommodate Antifa and BLM thugs burning American cities.)
Republicans blast Waters, Democrats defend her
Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader of the Democrat-controlled Senate, blasted Waters, saying: "It's harder to imagine anything more inappropriate than a member of Congress flying in from California to inform local leaders, not so subtly, that this defendant better be found guilty or else there'll be big trouble in the streets."
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz slammed officials from the rival party in general for openly inciting riots. The senator from Texas tweeted on Sunday that Democrats are supporting far-left terror groups to tear apart American society.
"Today's Democrats are about power. So if the rules stand in the way, the heck with the rules, ignore them," Cruz said.
House Republicans also rebuked Waters.
House Minority Leader and California Rep. Kevin McCarthy tweeted that Waters had "incited violence." He pledged to introduce a congressional resolution of censure, though such a move would be largely symbolic as Democrats also run the lower house of Congress.
House Republican Whip and Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, who was shot in 2017 by a left-wing gunman, urged Democrats and the media to condemn the remarks made by Waters. He tweeted: "I was shot because of this kind of dangerous rhetoric."
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced a resolution to expel Waters while New York Rep. Lee Zeldin called for Waters to be "immediately removed from Congress." Other GOP lawmakers called for a "sanction" to "hold her accountable."
Meanwhile, Democrat lawmakers defended Waters. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisted on Monday that her fellow California representative had no reason to apologize. "Maxine talked about confrontation in the manner of the civil rights movement," Pelosi said.
House Majority Leader and Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer also downplayed the issue, saying on Monday: "I don't think she meant violence." He added that Waters is "passionate" and has "never advocated violence."
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