# Derek Chauvin **Derek Chauvin** is the former Minneapolis police officer who murdered [[George Floyd]] on May 25, 2020 by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes. The bystander video set off the largest wave of racial-justice protests in American history (see [[George Floyd Protests 2020]]). Since his conviction he has been a reference point for both sides: proof of accountability to one, and to parts of the right a man convicted under the pressure of the 2020 protests. ## The cases | Date | Event | |---|---| | Apr 20, 2021 | Convicted in state court of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, in a case led by Attorney General [[Keith Ellison]] | | June 25, 2021 | Sentenced to 22.5 years | | Dec 15, 2021 | Pleads guilty to federal civil-rights charges, for Floyd and for a 2017 assault on a 14-year-old | | July 7, 2022 | Federal sentence: 21 years, served concurrently | | 2023 | Minnesota appeals court affirms (April); state Supreme Court denies review (July); U.S. Supreme Court denies certiorari (Nov 20) | | Nov 24, 2023 | Stabbed 22 times at FCI Tucson by another inmate, a former FBI informant charged with attempted murder; later moved to FCI Big Spring, Texas | | May 1, 2026 | A state judge denies his post-conviction petition; he appeals that summer | A motion to vacate his federal plea, filed in late 2023, has no ruling in the sources reviewed. A further state petition in August 2026, challenging Ellison's assignment to the case, rests on one source. His projected release is around 2038. ## The pardon campaign From 2022 a strand of right-wing media worked to recast the case. [[Candace Owens]]'s *The Greatest Lie Ever Sold* ([[The Daily Wire]], October 2022) argued Floyd died of an overdose. In March 2025 [[Ben Shapiro]] launched a petition for a presidential pardon, which passed 50,000 signatures with boosts from [[Elon Musk]] and [[Charlie Kirk]]. [[Donald Trump]] said he "hadn't even heard about it" and was not considering it. No pardon had been issued as of October 2026. A pardon could only reach the federal sentence; the 22.5-year state sentence would stand. **The consent decree.** The Justice Department's 2023 findings against the Minneapolis Police Department, and the consent decree that followed, were the institutional outcome of the case. The Justice Department under [[Harmeet Dhillon]] moved to drop them on May 21, 2025, and Judge Paul Magnuson dismissed the decree on June 3, 2025. Mayor Jacob Frey said the city would carry out the reforms anyway. ## Why he matters for the KB Chauvin marks one of the right's post-2020 reversals: from broad condemnation in 2020 to a pardon petition promoted by figures close to the White House five years later. Six years on, the same city became the site of the [[ICE Minneapolis Killings]]. See [[Black Lives Matter]]. ## See Also - [[George Floyd Murder and Aftermath Timeline]] · [[George Floyd Protests 2020]] · [[George Floyd]] - [[Black Lives Matter]] · [[Candace Owens]] · [[Keith Ellison]] · [[Lafayette Square Bible Photo Op]] - [[2026 Key State Races Hub]] · [[ICE Minneapolis Killings]]