Wednesday, December 15, 2021
George Floyd’s rights violated
Derek Chauvin pleads guilty for the first time
He has changed his strategy in court: The already convicted former police officer Chauvin has pleaded guilty in another trial. He admits to having violated the civil rights of the murdered African American George Floyd. However, his admission of guilt does not come without ulterior motives.
Ex-police officer Derek Chauvin, sentenced to long imprisonment for the killing of African American George Floyd, has pleaded guilty for the first time in separate federal proceedings. Chauvin admitted in a federal court in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to have violated Floyd’s civil rights, as US media reported. In September, the 45-year-old had pleaded “not guilty”. He changed this now in court.
In June, Chauvin was sentenced to 22 years and six months in prison for second degree murder. In parallel with the Minnesota State Justice, federal justice had also brought charges against Chauvin, as is possible in the United States. She accuses the ex-cop of violating Floyd’s constitutional right not to suffer “disproportionate violence by a police officer”. Chauvin faces 20 to 25 years imprisonment in the federal proceedings. Both prison terms can be served at the same time. According to media reports, the court had warned Chauvin that he could face life imprisonment without admission of guilt. The ex-police officer now also pleaded guilty to violating the civil rights of a 14-year-old who he grabbed by the neck in 2017 and hit with a flashlight.
White policeman Chauvin held the knee of Floyd, who was arrested and handcuffed on charges of counterfeit money, on May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis for around nine and a half minutes, even though the 46-year-old black man repeatedly complained that he could no longer breathe. Floyd’s agonizing death, captured on a cell phone video, sparked international outrage and sparked national protests against racism and police violence. Floyd’s “I can’t breathe” complaint – “I can’t breathe” or “I can’t breathe” – went around the world and became a motto of the anti-racism movement Black Lives Matter.