Derek Chauvin - The African Mirror

Nov

2023

Former officer convicted in death of George Floyd attacked in prison, official confirms

DEREK Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted in the death of George Floyd, was attacked in a prison in Arizona, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison confirmed. The Associated Press earlier reported Chauvin had been stabbed and seriously injured on Friday. "I am sad to hear that Derek Chauvin was the target of violence," Ellison said in an emailed statement. "He was duly convicted of his crimes and, like any incarcerated individual, he should be able to serve his sentence without fear of retaliation or violence." He did not give further details. Chauvin is serving a 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd's…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Derek Chauvin to appeal his conviction, sentencing in death of George Floyd

WORLD

AKRITI SHARMA FORMER Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has filed an intent to appeal with the Minnesota state appellate court in his murder conviction for the death of George Floyd. A jury found Chauvin, who is white, guilty in April of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of Floyd, a Black man. The verdict was widely seen as a landmark rebuke of the disproportionate use of police force against Black Americans. The video of Chauvin kneeling on the neck of the handcuffed Floyd for more than eight minutes during the arrest caused outrage around the…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Chauvin, convicted in Floyd’s murder, pleads not guilty to violating teen’s rights

WORLD

THE former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd has pleaded not guilty to violating a teenager's civil rights by using a neck restraint similar to the one that killed Floyd, a Black man whose death galvanized a national protest movement against racism. In the current case, the former officer, Derek Chauvin, who is white, stands accused of violating the rights of a then-14-year-old Black boy in 2017 by hitting him with a flashlight and holding a knee on his neck while he was prone, handcuffed and not resisting arrest. Chauvin, now imprisoned for 22-1/2 years for Floyd's murder,…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Ex-police officer Derek Chauvin sentenced to 22-1/2 years for George Floyd murder

WORLD

NICHOLAS PFOSI and JONATHAN ALLEN A Minnesota judge sentenced former police officer Derek Chauvin to 22-1/2 years in prison on Friday for the murder of George Floyd during an arrest in May 2020 on a Minneapolis sidewalk, video of which sparked global protests. A jury found Chauvin, 45, guilty on April 20 of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter after a trial that was widely seen as a landmark in the history of U.S. policing. Before the sentence was handed down, Floyd's brothers told the court of their anguish, Chauvin's mother insisted on her son's innocence, and Chauvin…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

What has changed a year after George Floyd’s death?

WORLD

ANASTASIA MOLONEY IN the year since the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, people worldwide took to the streets to protest against racism amid renewed calls for reforms in U.S. law enforcement. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering Floyd in April, a milestone in the fraught racial history of the United States and a rebuke of law enforcement's treatment of Black Americans. But what tangible change has happened to address racial inequality in the United States since Floyd's murder? The…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Grand jury indicts four former police officers in George Floyd’s death

WORLD

A federal grand jury in Minneapolis has indicted four ex-police officers involved in the arrest and death of George Floyd on charges they violated Floyd's civil rights while detaining him last year, according to court documents unsealed on Friday. The three-count indictment names Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao, Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane as defendants and charges them with depriving Floyd of his constitutional right not to be deprived of liberty without due process under the law, which includes his right to not have his medical needs ignored. "The defendants saw George Floyd lying on the ground in clear need of…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Last Straw’: Americans confront racism, violence in Chauvin trial

WORLD

THE trial and conviction of former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin for murdering George Floyd came with America at a crossroads, a moment of anguish, but also of possibility, which historians and activists compared to the Civil Rights era. From policing and race relations to the criminal justice system, the three-week trial of Derek Chauvin became "a symbol and stand in for our emotions, our fears and our hopes surrounding this whole set of issues," said David Greenberg, a professor of history and media studies at Rutgers University. The audience for the trial was hard to measure, but likely vast because…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Nervous anticipation turns to joy as former police officer Chauvin found guilty

WORLD

NATHAN LAYNE and JONATHAN ALLEN NERVOUS awaiting a verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin erupted in jubilation after the jury found the former Minneapolis police officer guilty of murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd during an arrest last May. Throngs gathered in George Floyd square, around the intersection where Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died with his neck pinned to the street under Chauvin's knee, screamed, cheered and applauded at the news of the guilty verdict. The square has become a place of pilgrimage and protest since Floyd's death made him the face of a national…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY! Chauvin convicted 3 times

WORLD

JONATHAN ALLEN, NATHAN LAYNE and GABRIELLA BORTER FORMER Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been convicted of murdering George Floyd, a milestone in the fraught racial history of the United States and a rebuke of law enforcement's treatment of Black Americans. A 12-member jury found Chauvin, 45, guilty of all three charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter after considering three weeks of testimony from 45 witnesses, including bystanders, police officials and medical experts. Deliberations began on Monday and lasted just over 10 hours. In a confrontation captured on video, Chauvin, a white veteran of the police force, pushed…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

George Floyd’s alleged killed ‘betrayed police badge’

WORLD

JONATHAN ALLEN A prosecutor told the jury that former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin betrayed his badge and murdered George Floyd in last year's deadly arrest as closing arguments began in Chauvin's trial. Over and over again, Steve Schleicher, a prosecutor with the Minnesota attorney general's office, repeated a phrase: "Nine minutes and 29 seconds," — the length of time Chauvin was captured on video on May 25, 2020, kneeling on the dying Floyd's neck. Schleicher emphasized that the jury was weighing the guilt of only one man, although their verdict will nonetheless be widely seen as a reckoning in the…