Tag Archives: George Floyd

NPR reports: The family of George Floyd announced Tuesday that they will file a $250 million lawsuit against Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, following comments he made about Floyd’s death on the podcast Drink Champs. Ye — who was a guest on last weekend’s episode of the podcast hosted by rapper N.O.R.E and DJ EFN — put …

The New York Daily News reports: Kanye West continues to create outrage. The outspoken rapper contended in a new interview that George Floyd died of the drug fentanyl, and not from the actions of the Minnesota police officer who was convicted of his murder. “They hit him with the fentanyl. If you look, the guy’s knee wasn’t even on his …

The Associated Press reports: Family members of George Floyd say they’re angered at a federal judge’s sentence Thursday of 2 1/2 years for a former Minneapolis police officer convicted of a civil rights violation in Floyd’s killing. U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson sentenced Thomas Lane well below the 5 1/4 years that was the bottom of a range called for …

USA Today reports: A federal judge sentenced former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin to 21 years in prison for violating George Floyd’s civil rights when he killed Floyd by pinning the unarmed Black man to the pavement with his knee for more than nine minutes. Chauvin was convicted in a separate case on state charges of murder and manslaughter and …

Axios reports: Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper charges in a memoir out May 10 that former President Trump said when demonstrators were filling the streets around the White House following the death of George Floyd: “Can’t you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something?” The book, “A Sacred Oath,” contains vivid, first-person revelations by a top …

CNN reports: Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has asked the state Court of Appeals to overturn his conviction for the 2020 murder of George Floyd. The 82-page filing lists more than a dozen aspects of the case and trial that Chauvin’s attorney argues tainted the proceedings and rendered them “structurally defective,” including extensive pretrial publicity and protests outside the …

The New York Times reports: Three former Minneapolis police officers were found guilty on Thursday of federal crimes for failing to intervene as another officer killed George Floyd by pressing his knee on his neck for more than nine minutes. The case was an extraordinarily rare example of the Justice Department prosecuting officers for their inaction while another officer used …

The Associated Press reports: The federal trial for three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights as Derek Chauvin pinned the Black man’s neck to the street is expected to begin Monday with opening statements, after a jury of 18 people was swiftly picked last week. J. Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao are broadly charged …

Minneapolis’s NBC News affiliate reports: Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin formally changed his plea from “not guilty” to “guilty” Wednesday on federal charges of depriving George Floyd of his civil rights, related to Floyd’s murder in May 2020. Chauvin, who is currently serving a state prison sentence following his conviction for Floyd’s murder, was charged in May 2021 with …

The Associated Press reports: Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin appears to be on the verge of pleading guilty to violating George Floyd ’s civil rights, according to a notice sent out Monday by the court’s electronic filing system. The federal docket entry shows a hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday for Chauvin to change his current not guilty plea …

CNN reports: Voters in the city rejected a ballot measure to overhaul policing drafted amid the national fury over George Floyd’s murder by a police officer but that went to voters as rising concerns about gun violence drained energy from the protest movement that had launched it. CNN on Tuesday projected that Minneapolis Question 2 had failed, effectively ending a …

The New York Daily News reports: A skateboarding vandal was caught on video released Monday tossing paint on the George Floyd statue in Union Square. The incident happened 10:15 a.m. Sunday, with the suspect riding up to the statue, slinging paint from a can, then casually skateboarding away, the video shows. It was the second time the memorial was vandalized. …

The Associated Press reports: The former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder in George Floyd’s death intends to appeal his conviction and sentence, saying the judge abused his discretion or erred during several key points in the case, according to documents filed Thursday. Derek Chauvin said he intends to appeal on 14 grounds. Among them, he claims Judge Peter Cahill …

Axios reports: Fewer Americans are trying to get out of jury duty, and legal experts say this may reflect people’s growing desire to combat systemic racism. Jury consultant Jason Bloom tells Axios that, historically, as many as one in four U.S. adults who are called for jury duty seek to be excused, citing hardships. But now, that number has shrunk …

Minneapolis’s CBS News affiliate reports: Sources tell WCCO that, as part of the plea, Chauvin could get a 20- to 25-year sentence, which he would serve at the same time as the state sentence, and that he would serve his time in federal not state prison. If convicted in federal court, Chauvin could face life in prison. Former Hennepin County …

CNN reports: Former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin has been sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison in the 2020 murder of George Floyd. Prosecutors had asked for a 30 year sentence, and Chauvin’s attorney asked for probation and time served. Chauvin was convicted in April of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Technically, Chauvin faced up …

CNBC reports: A Minnesota judge Friday rejected a request for a new trial for former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd. The denial came just hours before the judge is due to sentence Chauvin for the murder of Floyd. Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill, in an order, wrote that Chauvin’s lawyer Eric Nelson had failed to …

The Daily Beast reports: A statue honoring George Floyd in Brooklyn was vandalized with black spray paint and the name of a white supremacist group, Patriot Front, on Thursday morning. The statue’s unveiling took place less than a week ago on Juneteenth, with Floyd’s brother Terence in attendance. The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force said it was investigating the incident, …

Law & Crime reports: A truck driver who drove his rig through a large crowd of demonstrators protesting the death of George Floyd on a Minnesota highway last summer will no longer face criminal charges, provided he does not get into trouble with the law for the next year. Bogdan Vechirko, 36, and prosecutors in Hennepin County reached a deal—called …

ABC News reports: The Pulitzer Prizes recognize some of the year’s most important journalism. This year, someone who isn’t a professional journalist, but whose actions had as much impact as any, is among those being honored. Darnella Frazier, who filmed the death of George Floyd, received a special citation, Aminda Marqués González, co-chair of the Pulitzer Prize Board, announced Friday. …