Credit: Court TV via AP, Pool, File
George Floyd Officers Civil Rights
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of murder in last year’s death of George Floyd, is scheduled to make his first appearance in federal court for allegedly violating Floyd’s civil rights.
Chauvin is scheduled to have a videoconference court appearance Tuesday from Minnesota’s maximum-security prison in Oak Park Heights, where he’s being held as he awaits sentencing for the guilty verdict handed to him for Floyd’s murder.
Derek Chauvin is scheduled to appear in federal court on charges that he violated George Floyd's civil rights by pinning the Black man to the pavement with his knee. The ex-Minneapolis officer awaits sentencing for his murder conviction in Floyd’s death.https://t.co/EeshXF40tn
— The Associated Press (@AP) June 1, 2021
The federal charges say Chauvin violated Floyd’s rights as he restrained him face-down while he was handcuffed and not resisting, according to the Associated Press. Chauvin’s attorney said during his murder trial that the officer’s actions were reasonable and Floyd died due to health circumstances.
Chauvin is also charged in a second indictment that says he violated the rights of a 14-year-old boy in 2017. According to the AP, in order to bring federal charges in deaths involving police, prosecutors must believe an officer acted under government authority and willfully deprived someone’s constitutional rights as well as try to prove it in court.
