Should Trump Pardon Derek Chauvin? – The American Spectator | USA News and PoliticsThe American Spectator

Ben Shapiro launched a campaign calling on President Trump to pardon former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who has been condemned by the Left and Black Lives Matter activists for the death of George Floyd. 

https://t.co/ZQ9yABoWtM pic.twitter.com/4Wo1R3hamx

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 4, 2025

“When it came to BLM, the inciting event for the BLM riots that caused $2 billion in property damage in the United States and set America’s race relations on the worst footing in my lifetime — was, in fact, the railroading of Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd,” Shapiro said in a video statement. “The evidence demonstrates that Derek Chauvin did not, in fact, commit the murder of George Floyd.” (READ MORE: Chauvin Did Not Murder George Floyd)

Chauvin is currently serving 22 and a half years in prison, a federal charge for infringing on Floyd’s civil rights and a state sentence for second-degree murder. He is currently held in a federal prison in Texas after being stabbed 22 times in Federal Correctional Institution, Tuscon in Arizona by another inmate, John Tursack. 

Shapiro linked to a petition website, PardonDerek.com, which includes a letter to President Trump stating why Chauvin should be freed from federal charges. The letter recounts contributing factors that led to Floyd’s death and proves Chauvin’s innocence, such as Floyd being high on fentanyl and having a pre-existing heart condition. The infamous video shows that Chauvin had “his knee on George Floyd’s shoulder or back, not on his neck; this was confirmed by the autopsy, which showed no damage to George Floyd’s trachea.” (READ MORE: What Derek Chauvin Ought to Tell the Judge)

The petition reignited conversations on social media about Floyd and Chauvin, and it was further bolstered by prominent figures. Elon Musk reposted Shapiro’s post on X, adding a brief comment: “Something to think about.” 

During his first term in the Oval Office, Trump was sympathetic toward Floyd and promptly requested an investigation into his death. As violent protests and riots progressed throughout the country in 2020, Trump issued a statement that pushed for law and order while encouraging cities and states to protect their citizens through the use of police and military force to stop the destruction.

While Trump has made no reference or signaled an intention to free Chauvin, Trump said in an interview with Newsmax in 2020 that “something snapped” in the policeman involved in Floyd’s death and that they are “certainly in a very bad category.”