Derek Chauvin


Derek Michael Chauvin is an American former police officer known for his involvement in the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, 2020. During an arrest made by Chauvin and three other officers, he knelt on George Floyd's neck for almost eight minutes while Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on a street. He was fired by the Minneapolis Police Department the next day.
Floyd's killing set off a series of protests around the world. Chauvin was charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.

Early life and education

Chauvin was born in 1976. Chauvin's mother was a housewife and his father was a certified public accountant. When Chauvin was seven, his mother filed for a divorce, requesting child support for Derek and his baby sister. Chauvin's father requested a paternity test for the sister, which showed that he was not the father. The parents were granted joint custody of Derek.
Chauvin attended Park High School in Cottage Grove, Minnesota. He did not graduate but obtained a General Educational Development certificate. He took food preparation courses at a technical college and worked as a cook and security guard. He served two enlistments as a military policeman with the United States Army. He graduated from the Metropolitan State University in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in law enforcement.

Career

He had been an officer in the Minneapolis Police Department since 2001.
He received a medal for valor in 2006 for being one of several officers who fired on a suspect who pointed a shotgun at them, and another in 2008 for a domestic-violence incident in which Chauvin broke down a door and shot a suspect who reached for his pistol. He received a commendation medal in 2008 after he and his partner tackled a fleeing suspect holding a pistol, and another in 2009 for single-handedly apprehending a group of gang members.
Chauvin had 18 complaints on his official record, two of which ended in discipline, including official letters of reprimand.
He had been involved in three police shootings, one of which was fatal.
According to the former owner of El Nuevo Rodeo, a Latin nightclub, Floyd and Chauvin had worked overlapping shifts as security guards at the club; Chauvin for 17 years and Floyd at about a dozen events. The former owner said it was not clear whether they knew each other, but she did not believe so.
She also said Chauvin had sometimes used overaggressive tactics when dealing with black clientele, responding to fights by spraying the crowd with mace instead of dealing with those who were fighting.

Killing of George Floyd

On May 25, 2020, Chauvin was one of four officers involved in arresting George Floyd on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill at a market. Chauvin was the field training officer for two of the other involved officers, who were in their first week of active duty.
Security camera footage from a nearby business did not show Floyd resisting the arrest. The criminal complaint stated that, based on body camera footage, Floyd repeatedly said he could not breathe while standing outside the police car, resisted getting in the car and fell down; he went to the ground face down. While Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on the street, Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for nearly eight minutes. After Chauvin placed his knee on Floyd's neck, Floyd repeatedly said "I can't breathe", "Mama", and "please". For part of the time, two other officers knelt on Floyd's back. During the final two minutes Floyd was motionless and had no pulse.
Several bystanders took videos which were widely circulated and broadcast and Chauvin and the other three officers were fired the following day. While knee-to-neck restraints are allowed in Minnesota under certain circumstances, Chauvin's use of the technique has been widely criticized by law enforcement experts as excessive. On June 23, Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said that Chauvin had been trained in the dangers of positional asphyxiation, and characterized Floyd's death as murder.

Murder charges

Chauvin was arrested on May 29, 2020.
Hennepin County attorney Mike Freeman charged him with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter,
making him the first white officer in Minnesota to be charged in the death of a black civilian.
Under Minnesota law, third-degree murder is defined as causing another's death without intent to kill, but "evincing a depraved mind, without regard for human life". Second-degree manslaughter also does not imply lethal intent, but that the perpetrator created "an unreasonable risk" of serious harm or death.
On May 31, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison took over the case at the request of Governor Tim Walz. On June 3, Ellison amended the charges against Chauvin to include unintentional second-degree murder under the felony murder doctrine, alleging that Chauvin killed Floyd in the course of committing assault in the third degree;
Minnesota sentencing guidelines recommend 12.5 years imprisonment on conviction of that charge.
Ellison also charged the three other officers with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.
Bail for Chauvin was set at $1.25 million,
and for the three other officers $1 million.
Prior to Chauvin's arrest, his attorney and prosecutors had made unsuccessful attempts to negotiate a plea bargain to cover both state and federal charges. The day before his arrest, Chauvin's wife of almost 10 years filed for divorce.
Eight correctional officers at the Ramsey County Jail filed a discrimination complaint against supervisors at the jail with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, alleging that during Chauvin's brief stay before his transfer to a state prison, non-white guards were not allowed to work on the fifth floor where Chauvin was being held. Their complaint also alleged that a guard saw a white lieutenant sit on Chauvin's bed and that she permitted Chauvin to use her cellphone. Responding to the complaint, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights said it was opening an investigation to determine whether discrimination took place.

Personal life

Chauvin married a Laotian immigrant, who competed in a "Mrs. Minnesota" beauty pageant in 2018. She filed for a divorce after Floyd's death.
Following the murder charges against him, Chauvin and his wife were charged with multiple felony counts of tax evasion related to allegedly fraudulent tax returns from 2014 to 2019. The Washington County prosecutor's office announced on 22 July 2020 that Chauvin and his wife under-reported joint income by a total of $464,433, including more than $95,000 from Chauvin's off-duty security work. The complaint also alleges failure to pay proper sales tax on a $100,000 BMW purchased in Minnesota in 2018, failure to declare income from Chauvin's wife's business, improperly accounted-for deductions on a rental home, and changing their residency to Florida because "it was cheaper to register a car there".