White Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin who is with charged killing George Floyd will make his first court appearance today – two weeks after the black man’s death sparked protests across the US
- Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder in George Floyd’s May 25 death
- He was filmed kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes as he gasped for air and repeatedly groaned: ‘Please, I can’t breathe.’
- Chauvin, who was fired from the Minneapolis Police Department, was initially charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter
- His first court appearance in Minneapolis on Monday comes as a public viewing will be held for Floyd in Houston, Texas
- Chauvin is facing up to 40 years in prison if convicted
- Councilors in Minneapolis have since pledged to dismantle and rebuild the police department following Floyd’s death
Derek Chauvin, the white Minneapolis police officer charged with killing George Floyd on May 25, will face court for the first time on Monday
The white Minneapolis police officer charged with killing George Floyd will face court for the first time on Monday – two weeks after the black man’s death sparked protests across the United States over police brutality.
Derek Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder in Floyd’s May 25 death after he was filmed kneeling on the 46-year-old’s neck for nearly nine minutes as he gasped for air and repeatedly groaned: ‘Please, I can’t breathe.’
Chauvin, who was fired from the Minneapolis Police Department, was initially charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter before he was newly charged with second-degree murder last week.
His first court appearance in Minneapolis on Monday comes as a public viewing will be held for Floyd in Houston, Texas.
Chauvin is facing up to 40 years in prison if convicted.
Three other officers at the scene – Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao – have each been charged with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and manslaughter.
Chauvin is being defended by Eric Nelson of the Halberg Criminal Defense firm and is being provided by the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association.
Derek Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder in Floyd’s May 25 death after he was filmed kneeling on the 46-year-old’s neck for nearly nine minutes as he gasped for air and repeatedly groaned: ‘Please, I can’t breathe’
The move comes after more than a week of protests – which have occasionally turned violent – over the killing of George Floyd, who suffocated to death while being arrested for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill
Nelson has represented many police officers, often in officer-involved shootings, but none of whom have been charged or gone to trial, a source told Reuters.
He also represented Amy Senser, the wife of former Minnesota Vikings professional football player Joe Senser, who was convicted for the 2011 hit-and-run death of a Minneapolis chef. She was sentenced to 41 months in prison.
The Halberg firm has 10 lawyers and is the Minnesota’s largest firm that does exclusively criminal defense work. Nelson is the managing partner.
His court appearance comes one day after councilors in Minneapolis pledged to dismantle and rebuild the police department following Floyd’s death.
‘We are going to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department,’ Council Member Jeremiah Ellis said on Twitter.
‘And when we’re done, we’re not simply gonna glue it back together. We are going to dramatically rethink how we approach public safety and emergency response.’
Minneapolis councilors have vowed to abolish the city’s ‘toxic’ police department and to reinvest the funds in community projects aimed at preventing crime in an historic move (pictured, councilors speak to demonstrators)
Mayor Jacob Frey, 38 (pictured), was booed by protesters at the weekend after refusing to back the demand to defund police – and councilors now have a supermajority which means he cannot block the move
The movement to ‘defund the police’ predates the current protests but has won new support since video of the incident sparked more than a week of sometimes violent protests that have rocked dozens of US cities in the worst civil unrest in decades.
The Minneapolis council has not yet formally discussed defunding or reimagining its police force but council president Lisa Bender told CNN that a majority were in support.
‘We committed to dismantling policing as we know it in the city of Minneapolis and to rebuild with our community a new model of public safety that actually keeps our community safe,’ Bender said.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, however, is against getting rid of the department, and the head of the city’s powerful police union, Bob Kroll, appeared on stage last year with President Donald Trump.
The vow by the majority of councilors came a day after Frey was booed at and asked to leave a ‘Defund the Police’ rally. He later said he supported ‘massive structural reform to revise this structurally racist system’ but not ‘abolishing the entire police department.’