Who is Derek Chauvin, the Police Officer Accused of Killing George Floyd?

The 44-year-old American police officer will be in the dock, on trial for the death of George Floyd, beginning this Monday in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is accused of having caused Floyd’s death by asphyxiation in May, 2020, an incident which has had worldwide repercussions.

How did an ordinary Minneapolis police officer become the symbol of police violence, provoke an international wave of protest, and perhaps even change the course of the American election?

Derek Chauvin will be in the dock at the trial getting underway this Monday in the largest city in Minnesota, and a trial which is, at the same time, one of “systemic racism” in the American police force, denounced by some, but also the racism of one man. The trial is scheduled to last two months.

’Murder in the 2nd Degree,’ without Premeditation

Accused of “murder in the second degree,” that is to say committed without premeditation, the 44-year-old white officer caused Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020.

Over the course of eight minutes and 46 seconds, this officer kneeled on the neck of the African American man, who was being questioned and handcuffed on suspicion of having passing a counterfeit $20 bill. Floyd, age 46, the father of a little girl, died an hour later at the hospital.

After a somewhat chaotic youth while in school, Chauvin held various jobs, including a job as a cook, before he found his way to the police department, where he gained 19 years of experience.

22 Complaints Denouncing His Conduct

What was his track record? Two incidents, in which his intervention was judged crucial, earned Chauvin a Medal of Valor. On the dark side, there are 22 complaints denouncing his conduct on the job, but none of those led anywhere. Chauvin only earned a single reprimand from his superiors before May 25..

However, during the upcoming trial, old cases may reappear, such as that of an African American woman, Zoya Code, who asserted that in 2017, the officer handcuffed her and pinned her to the ground for several minutes despite her protests. Just like Floyd. Dismissed from the police force the day after Floyd’s death, Chauvin spent four months in prison.

On Oct. 7, he was released on $1 million bail. The former police officer, who lives in an undisclosed secluded location, is of course being closely observed, not only by the legal authorities, but also by the American press, including the tabloids, which have rummaged through his past.

Suspicions of Tax Evasion

Two days after Floyd’s death, a killing which aroused worldwide interest, Chauvin’s wife Kellie said she was shocked by the death and filed for divorce. The separation was formalized in February 2021, but a heavy suspicion of tax fraud weighs on the former couple. Kellie Chauvin, of Laotian origin, was crowned “Miss Minnesota” in October 2018.

Kellie Chauvin met her future husband in a hospital in 2010, where she was a radiology technician. Chauvin was accompanying a prisoner for an examination that day, a long way from from the spotlight of today’s international news.