Author: Sam Buisman

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison harshens the charges against the police officer who killed George Floyd and brings new charges against the three other involved officers.

In a press conference Wednesday evening, Attorney General Ellison announced that former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin is now charged with second-degree murder in addition to the original charges brought against him in the death of George Floyd. In addition, Ellison revealed that the three other officers who were also working to detain Floyd have been charged with felonies for aiding second-degree murder.

Ellison acknowledged that winning a murder conviction against Chauvin “will be hard,” and is nearly unprecedented in Minnesotan legal history.

“I say this not because we doubt our resources or our ability. In fact, we're confident in what we're doing,” said Ellison. “But history does show that there are clear challenges here, and we're going to be working very hard and relying on each other, our investigative partners and the community to support that endeavor.”

After George Floyd asphyxiated last Monday while being restrained by these four officers, with Chauvin kneeling on his neck for almost nine minutes, the City of Minneapolis fired all four of the officers and charged Chauvin with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

However, protestors across the county have demanded firmer charges against Chauvin, as these lesser-degree counts abdicated Chauvin of intending to kill Floyd, and for the other three officers to be charged.