Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pleaded guilty to violating George Floyd’s civil rights during the arrest that killed him in May 2020, sparking mass racial justice protests across the US and the globe.
Chauvin appeared in federal court in person to change his plea to guilty, admitting for the first time that he kept his knee on Floyd’s neck — even after he became unresponsive — resulting in his death.
The former Minneapolis police officer is charged with two counts of depriving Floyd of his rights for pinning his knee against Floyd’s neck as he was handcuffed and not resisting, as well as for failing to provide medical care to him during the arrest that resulted in Floyd’s death.
Three other former officers — Thomas Lane, J. Kueng, and Tou Thao — were indicted on federal charges alongside Chauvin.
Chauvin has already been convicted of state murder and manslaughter charges and is serving a sentence of 22 1/2 years.
The agreement means he will not face trial in January.
Under the plea agreement, both sides agreed Chauvin should face a sentence ranging from 20 to 25 years, with prosecutors saying they would seek 25. With good behavior, the sentence would have amounted to 15 years behind bars before he became eligible for parole.
As part of the deal, he also pleaded guilty to violating the rights of a then 14-year-old boy during a 2017 arrest in which he held the boy by the throat, hit him in the head with a flashlight, and held his knee on the boy’s neck and upper back while he was prone, handcuffed and not resisting.
The final sentence will be up to U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson. The other three former officers are still expected to go to trial on federal charges in January, and they face state trial on aiding and abetting counts in March.
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