President Trump is not considering pardoning Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police office convicted in the death of George Floyd, nor was he aware of an influential conservative podcaster's push to reprieve Chauvin of federal charges, USA Today reports. "No, I haven't even heard about it," Trump said. "I haven't heard of that." Ben Shapiro, founder of the Daily Wire, has launched an online petition calling for Trump to pardon Chauvin, who in 2021 was sentenced for 22 and a half years in prison on state charges for second- and third-degree murder, and 21 years on federal charges for depriving Floyd his civil rights when he knelt on top of Floyd's neck for nine and a half minutes as he lay on a Minneapolis sidewalk in May 2020. Top White House adviser Elon Musk quickly embraced the idea, writing on X, "Something to think about."
Floyd, an unarmed 46-year-old Black man, died after being stopped by Chauvin, a white police officer, during a traffic stop in Minneapolis as he was arrested for using a counterfeit $20 bill. A teenager's video footage of Floyd struggling to breath beneath Chauvin's knee led to weeks of Black Lives Matther protests in the summer of 2020 and reignited the social justice movement. On his podcast last week, Shapiro argued Chauvin did not receive a fair trial because of the widespread attention to the case, including former President Biden's discussing the case publicly. Shapiro pointed to Floyd's preexisting heart condition, arguing "the evidence demonstrates certainly (Chauvin) was not guilty beyond reasonable doubt" despite both a federal and state jury's verdict otherwise. Shapiro said the "the railroading of Derek Chauvin" fueled the 2020 protests that led to property damage in some cities and hurt race relations. Chauvin is serving his state and federal prison sentences concurrently. Pardoning Chauvin for his federal charges would not change his state conviction.