Despite pressure from conservative media figures, President Donald Trump stated Friday that he is not considering a pardon for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. When asked by a reporter in the Oval Office if he was considering granting Chauvin clemency, Trump responded, “No, I haven’t even heard about it.”
Chauvin was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 22 ½ years in prison for the 2020 killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man. The incident, captured on video, sparked nationwide protests against police brutality. Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro has been advocating for Chauvin’s release, calling his conviction a politically motivated “achievement of the Woke movement” and accusing then-President Joe Biden and other Democrats of influencing the jury.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison condemned Shapiro’s campaign, calling it a blatant disregard for the law and disrespectful to Floyd’s family. Floyd died after Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly 10 minutes during an arrest for allegedly using counterfeit money. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner ruled Floyd’s death a homicide caused by restraint and neck compression, while a separate autopsy requested by Floyd’s family concluded he died of asphyxiation.
Chauvin’s sentence exceeded the recommended 12.5 years due to the court’s finding that he abused his authority as a police officer and acted with exceptional cruelty. His defense team appealed, arguing that media attention and procedural errors prevented a fair trial. However, an appeals court upheld the conviction, ruling the lower court had properly handled the case.
In 2022, Chauvin also received a 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights and using excessive force against a 14-year-old in a separate case. He was initially held in a Minnesota maximum-security prison before being transferred to a federal facility in Arizona, where he was stabbed by an inmate. He was later moved to a lower-security prison in Texas, where he remains incarcerated.
