The family of George Floyd are demanding that tougher charges be brought against the US police officer accused of killing the arrested man by kneeling on his neck for more than eight minutes.
Derek Chauvin was charged on Friday with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter - two felonies where intent is a key element - over the death of African-American Floyd, which has triggered protests across the US.
However, CNN says that Floyd’s family and their lawyer, Benjamin Crump, are upset that the fired Minneapolis Police Department officer “wasn’t charged with a more serious offence” and are demanding that the authorities change the charges.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Under Minnesota law, third-degree murder is defined as causing the death of a person “by perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind”. The offence carries a sentence of no more than 25 years or a fine of no more than $40,000 (£32,000), or both.
The news site says that the charges are not more serious because “prosecutors had to prove that [Chauvin] wanted to kill” when he forcibly restrained Floyd during an arrest over an alleged fake $20 bill.
CNN legal analyst Laura Coates, a former assistant US attorney for the District of Columbia, said that the prosecutor will have looked at “what a reasonable police officer would have done”, as well as whether “this officer intended to get up this morning or have that interaction with Mr. George Floyd and cause his death”.
In other words, prosecutors “appear to believe Chauvin’s actions were unintentional but the law still recognises them as a crime”, Coates added.
The New York Times reports that police department records show that Chauvin had previously faced 18 internal affairs complaints, “16 of which were closed without discipline”.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Start your trial subscription today –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
In an interview with CBS News’s Face the Nation, the Floyd family’s lawyer said that the charges over the killing should be first-degree murder. Crump said: “We believe [Chauvin] knew who George Floyd was.”
Crump claims the Floyd family was “notified by the owner of a club that Derek Chauvin was an off-duty police officer where George Floyd was a security guard, and so they had to overlap”.
-
The ethics behind facial recognition vans and policingThe Explainer The government is rolling out more live facial recognition technology across England
-
The Met police's stop and search overhaulThe Explainer More than 8,500 Londoners have helped put together a new charter for the controversial practice
-
NCHIs: the controversy over non-crime hate incidentsThe Explainer Is the policing of non-crime hate incidents an Orwellian outrage or an essential tool of modern law enforcement?
-
Bodycam shows deputy killing Black womanSpeed Read An Illinois deputy fatally shot Sonya Massey, who had called 911 about suspected trespassers
-
The new powers to stop stalking in the UKThe Explainer Updated guidance could help protect more victims, but public is losing trust in police and battered criminal justice system
-
'Goon Squad' cops sentenced for torturing 2 Black menSpeed Read The former Mississippi law enforcement officers pleaded guilty last year
-
'Warriors' vs 'guardians': the pitfalls of police recruit training in the USIN DEPTH American police training fails to keep pace with the increasingly complex realities that today's officers face
-
Can the Met Police heal its relationship with the Black community?In depth Police chiefs accused of not doing enough to address reported institutional racism
