Cleveland protests erupt after officer is found not guilty in shooting deaths

A Cleveland police officer was found not guilty on Saturday in the shooting deaths of two unarmed black people after a high-speed car chase in 2012, one in a series of cases that have raised questions over police conduct and race relations in the United States.

Judge John O'Donnell said Officer Michael Brelo, 31, acted reasonably in shooting the two suspects, a man and a woman, through the windshield. Brelo was found not guilty of two charges of voluntary manslaughter and one charge of aggravated assault.

While most US criminal defendants choose to have their cases judged by a jury of their peers, Brelo had requested that a judge hear his case.