Source: Minnesota Department of Corrections / Minnesota Department of Corrections
Convicted murderer Derek Chauvin saved himself another trial and possibly more years to his prison sentence by pleading guilty to two federal charges related to violating George Floyd’s civil rights.
Eight months ago, the former Minneapolis cop and poster child of everything wrong with America’s police culture was convicted by the state of Minnesota of second-degree murder and sentenced to 22 and half years in prison.
The Associated Press reports that in a deal with federal prosecutors, Chauvin pled guilty to two federal charges. Those charges included that he deprived George Floyd’s constitutional right to be free from the “use of unreasonable force by a police officer” when he kneeled on the Black man’s neck while he was already handcuffed for almost 9 minutes, according to the indictment.
The unjustified restraint tactic restricted Floyd’s ability to breathe and killed him. Chauvin also pled guilty to second indictment from 2017 incident involving a 14-year-old in Minnesota that he used the same tactic on. Under the agreement, federal prosecutors are requesting that Chauvin serve 25 years to run concurrent to his murder sentence and other federal charges will be dropped. Chauvin loses his right to appeal and will serve his time in federal prison.
Floyd’s death at the hands of Chauvin and three other officers galvanized social protests around the world demanding accountibility and the end of police brutality and deadly force against unarmed black people.
