WASHINGTON, DC – President Donald Trump stated last Friday he is not considering a pardon for Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd that led to massive anti-police brutality protests worldwide in 2020, according to The Hill.
When asked by a reporter in the Oval Office about the calls from his allies to grant Chauvin clemency, Trump responded, “No, I haven’t even heard about it. No. I haven’t heard that,” reports The Hill.
Conservative media figure Ben Shapiro recently launched a petition urging Trump to pardon Chauvin, who is serving a 22 ½-year sentence for unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter, according to The Hill.
The Hill adds Floyd’s death, which was captured on widely circulated video, sparked months of nationwide protests and amplified the Black Lives Matter movement.
The Hill states the footage showed Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly 10 minutes as Floyd repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe.”
The protests occurred during Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign, during which he advocated for law-and-order crackdowns on demonstrators, reports The Hill.
In his petition, Shapiro characterized Floyd’s death as “the inciting event for the BLM riots” and questioned aspects of the trial’s evidence, according to The Hill.
Trump distanced himself from the pardon request, reported The Hill, adding the petition underscores ongoing divisions over Chauvin’s conviction and the broader political narratives surrounding the 2020 protests.
