Derek Chauvin pleads not guilty to violating teen’s rights in 2017 case unrelated to George Floyd
Derek Chauvin, the ex-Minneapolis cop convicted of murdering George Floyd, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to federal charges stemming from a similar confrontation with a 14-year-old boy in 2017.
Chauvin allegedly deprived the teen, who is Black, of his right to be free of unreasonable force when he held him by the throat, struck him in the head with a flashlight and then held his knee against the boy’s neck and upper back while he was prone, cuffed and not resisting, according to the indictment.
The 14-year-old suffered bleeding from his ear and required two stitches.
In his report about the incident, Chauvin, 45, claimed the teen — who he described as 6-foot-2 and about 240 pounds — resisted arrest and said he needed to use his body weight to pin him down.
When U.S. Magistrate Judge Hildy Bowbeer asked how he would plead to the charge, Chauvin replied, “Not guilty, your honor.”
The ex-officer, sporting a plain white T-shirt, appeared via video conference from a large and otherwise empty room. He is being held at the Minnesota Correctional Facility at Oak Park Heights.
The 2017 encounter with the teenager was one of seven instances prosecutors cited to illustrate that Chauvin used neck, head and upper body restraint tactics multiple times between 2014 and Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020. Four of those incidents include examples of the ex-cop going “beyond the point when such force was needed under the circumstances.”
Chauvin and three other officers — J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao — responded to allegations that 46-year-old Floyd used a phony $20 bill to buy cigarettes at a Minneapolis convenience store.
Video taken by a witness shows Floyd repeatedly cry for help while Chauvin knelt down on his neck for more than nine minutes.
Kueng and Lane helped restrain Floyd, with Kueng kneeling on Floyd’s back as Lane held his legs, prosecutors alleged during Chauvin’s trial. Thao is accused of blocking off bystanders to stop them from intervening.
Footage of Floyd’s struggle and his death went viral on social media, sparking worldwide backlash and a summer of protests demanding justice in police brutality cases and a cultural shift among law enforcement officers.
Floyd’s death was ruled a homicide and Chauvin found guilty in April of murder and manslaughter. In June he was sentenced to more than 22 years behind bars.
The other three former cops face a state trial in March on charges of aiding and abetting.
On Wednesday, all four officers were arraigned on civil rights violations in Floyd’s death.
The men deprived Floyd of his rights while acting under government authority, the indictment alleges. Chauvin is also accused of violating Floyd’s right to be free from unreasonable seizure and from unreasonable force by a police officer.
Thao and Kueng are charged with violating Floyd’s right to be free from unreasonable seizure by failing to intervene when Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck.
The quartet is additionally facing charges for depriving Floyd medical care. They each pleaded not guilty.
With News Wire Services
