Can Trump pardon Derek Chauvin? Ben Shapiro pushes for ex-Minneapolis cop's clemency
Ben Shapiro is urging President Donald Trump to pardon former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is convicted in the May 2020 death of George Floyd.
Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro is urging President Donald Trump to pardon Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted in the May 2020 death of George Floyd. Shapiro is launching a website, pardonderek.com, where people can sign a petition calling on the POTUS to pardon Chauvin for his federal charges.
“The evidence demonstrates that Derek Chauvin did not, in fact, commit the murder of George Floyd,” Shapiro said in a video shared on X. “George Floyd was high on fentanyl; he had a significant pre-existing heart condition. George Floyd was saying he could not breathe before he was even out of the car. He was in the car saying he could not breathe.”
“Derek Chauvin, for large segments of even the tape that was shown [at his trial], had his knee on George Floyd’s shoulder or back, not on his neck,” Shapiro continued. “The autopsy of George Floyd showed that he had no damage to his trachea, that probably George Floyd died of excited delirium. There were no accusations, even at trial, that Derek Chauvin had committed a hate crime against George Floyd or that he targeted George Floyd because of his race.”
Shapiro added: “I think it is worthwhile to remember that there is a man whose rotting in prison because the media decided in the middle of 2020 that they were going to turn a tragic law enforcement stop that ended with the death of a man that had a significant problem with drugs and pre-existing health problems into the raison d’être of the entire 2020 election."
"It led to vast chaos. It led to, again, the destruction of racial comity in the United States, $2 billion in property damage, and a guy rotting in prison who the evidence demonstrates certainly was not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in that case.”
In April 2021, a local jury in Minnesota found Chauvin guilty of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison. The following year, he received a 21-year sentence after pleading guilty to two federal civil rights violations. One was related to Floyd's death while the other was tied to the 2017 arrest of a 14-year-old.
Can Trump pardon Derek Chauvin?
Legally, Trump has the authority to pardon Chauvin for his federal conviction, as the US Constitution grants presidents the power to issue pardons for federal offenses. However, Chauvin’s state conviction for second-degree murder in Minnesota is beyond Trump’s jurisdiction and would require action at the state level.
