Minneapolis police officer - 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

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,…

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

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

Black man killed by police in Minnesota was ‘amazing, loving kid’

WORLD

DAUNTE Wright, the 20-year-old Black man who was fatally shot by a white police officer in a Minneapolis suburb during a traffic stop on Sunday, was kind, liked basketball and had a tight-knit family, according to media interviews with his relatives. Former U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday called for a "full and transparent investigation" into the death of Wright, who police say was shot when the officer mistakenly grabbed her pistol, rather than her Taser, after a routine traffic stop. Wright's mother, Katie Wright, told ABC News on Tuesday that her son was an "amazing, loving kid" who "had…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Spark of life’: jury to hear from George Floyd’s brother in quirk of Minnesota law

WORLD

JONATHAN ALLEN and JOSEPH AX BEFORE resting their case in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, prosecutors are planning to show the jury photographs of George Floyd as a younger man and question one of Floyd's brothers, who is expected to recall Floyd's close relationship with his mother. The pictures and reminiscences are not intended to shed any light on the central question before the jury: whether Chauvin, who is white, committed a crime during his deadly arrest of Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man in handcuffs, when he knelt on Floyd's neck for some nine minutes.…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Chauvin disregarded training in deadly encounter with George Floyd – witnesses

WORLD

JONATHAN ALLEN and BRENDAN O’BRIEN PROSECUTORS in Derek Chauvin's murder trial have presented a series of witnesses in a bid to show that the former Minneapolis police officer disregarded his training when he knelt on George Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes. Lieutenant Johnny Mercil, who teaches the proper use of force for the department, told jurors the neck restraint applied by Chauvin during the deadly arrest of Floyd was unauthorized. Officers are trained to use the least amount of force necessary to subdue a suspect, he said. During the May 2020 arrest, the handcuffed 46-year-old Black man fell limp…