Elon Musk, MAGA Trolls and Right-Wing Influencers Spark Outrage After Demanding Trump Pardon Derek Chauvin In George Floyd’s Death Despite State Conviction

There was a time not long ago when Americans on the left and right shared the belief that Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis cop who placed George Floyd in a 9-minute chokehold, had responded too forcefully.

Floyd’s death ignited nationwide protests in 2020, after video footage was widely circulated showing Floyd plead, “I can’t breathe,” as Chauvin kneeled on his neck.

The incident led to a summer of protests and coincided with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. Chauvin was convicted of murder in 2020 and sentenced to 22-and-a-half years in prison. More than half of Trump voters polled in 2021 agreed with the verdict, but now, five years later, the backlash from the right is beginning to coalesce.

Right-wing podcaster Ben Shapiro is leading the charge to pardon Chauvin. On Tuesday his crusade welcomed a powerful ally after Elon Musk announced his support for Shapiro’s campaign.

“Something to think about,” the Tesla founder said on X.

Shapiro launched a petition on Monday calling on the president to pardon Chauvin, saying he was “unjustly convicted.”

Floyd’s death was “the inciting event for the BLM riots,” Shapiro wrote, noting they led to significant property damage and “set America’s race relations on their worst footing in recent memory.”

He goes on to point out alleged gaps in the prosecution’s case, saying “massive overt pressure on the jury to return a guilty verdict regardless of the evidence or any semblance of impartial deliberation,” Shapiro said.

Elected officials also “pre-judged the outcome of the trial and took to national media to create pressure on the jury to go along with their preferred narrative,” Shapiro said. “Under these circumstances, there was no opportunity for blind justice to work, and a man is now rotting in prison because of it.”

The former Minneapolis police officer was found guilty of all three charges — second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. He was later found guilty of two federal counts of violating Floyd’s civil rights. Cop convictions are rare in a system where officers routinely face little to no consequences for civilian killings.

At the time of the Chauvin trial, only seven police officers had been convicted of murder for police shootings since 2005. The law favors police and gives them great latitude to use force.

But the video of Floyd’s agonizing death, which played out in front of about a dozen bystanders for nine minutes and 29 seconds and would eventually be shared around the world, formed the centerpiece of the prosecution’s case. Jurors were shown the deadly encounter at numerous angles, culled together from a combination of cellphone video, surveillance footage and police body camera video.

The prosecution also called nearly a dozen police officers who testified that Chauvin’s use of force was excessive and unnecessary; Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo called it “murder,” saying Chauvin ignored de-escalation and conflict resolution tactics mandated by the department.

In his petition, Shapiro claimed Floyd was high on fentanyl and had a “significant pre-existing heart condition” that contributed to his death, a suggestion seized upon by critics of the move to pardon.

“It does not matter if George Floyd had a breathing or heart condition that contributed to his death,” wrote one X user. “Derek Chauvin violated his rights and as a result George Floyd is dead. Your dislike of the public’s reaction to that fact is not cause for a pardon.”

Shapiro, in a separate video describing his petition, noted that Trump cannot pardon Chauvin in the state murder case but still said it was important Chauvin be pardoned on federal charges.

“Make no mistake — the Derek Chauvin conviction represents the defining achievement of the woke movement in American politics,” Shapiro said “The country cannot turn the page on that dark, divisive, and racist era without righting this terrible wrong.”

“Thank you for your commitment to ending the weaponization of the American justice system,” he concluded in the letter to Trump.

In a statement, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said Trump’s potential pardon wouldn’t free Chauvin, as he’s still concurrently serving a state sentence.

‘The only conceivable purpose would be to express yet more disrespect for George Floyd and more disrespect for the rule of law,’ Ellison told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Chauvin’s anticipated release date is Dec. 10, 2035. He’s currently incarcerated at a federal prison in Arizona.

One commenter on X wonders why Trump and MAGA seem “hell bent on celebrating, sympathizing, and advocating for the worst people imaginable.”

“Derek Chauvin was dealt a just hand, and it was a necessary conviction to ensure accountability in law enforcement,” the commenter concluded.

One user left an extended response to Shapiro calling BS on the outrage.

This is a bunch of BS from BS:

• Medical experts conclusively testified that George Floyd died from oxygen deprivation caused by Chauvin’s restraint, not from fentanyl or pre-existing conditions as claimed. Both the county medical examiner and independent autopsy ruled the death a homicide.
• The characterization of knee placement is misleading, as evidence showed Chauvin maintained dangerous pressure for over 9 minutes, violating police training protocols.
• Claims of jury intimidation are exaggerated, as multiple courts, including the Minnesota Supreme Court, upheld the conviction after reviewing these allegations.
• The legal process included a full trial with substantial evidence and multiple levels of appeal, contradicting the assertion that “blind justice” couldn’t function.