Derek Chauvin Returns To Court

Earlier this year, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder in the death of George Floyd on state charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. Chauvin was sentenced to 22 1/2 years and also charged in federal court with violating George Floyd’s civil rights when he knelt on his neck for about 9 1/2 minutes as Floyd was facedown on the pavement, not resisting and pleading for air.

Now, Chauvin is back in court for a similar 2017 incident with a 14-year-old boy. According to the incident reported, Chauvin deprived the Black teenager of his right to be free of unreasonable force when he held the teen by the throat, hit him in the head with a flashlight, and held his knee on the boy’s neck and upper back while he was prone, handcuffed and not resisting. According to a police report, Chauvin wrote that the 6-foot-2 and about 240 pounds teen resisted arrest and after he was handcuffed. Chauvin then wrote that he “used bodyweight to pin” him to the floor. The 14-yeard-old boy was bleeding from the ear and needed two stitches.

Source: NPR