Why President Trump shouldn’t pardon Derek Chauvin

Five years ago this month, anarchists set on fire my adopted town of Minneapolis in the wake of Derek Chauvin’s murder of George Floyd. Now, as President Donald J. Trump has made a triumphant return to the Oval Office, some of the blogosphere are calling for him to pardon Chauvin for his crimes. Article II, Section 2, Clause 1, of the United States Constitution grants the President the “Power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.”  President Trump should respect the verdict of the people and protect his own legacy by rejecting the ignoble calls to absolve the fired officer of his guilt. 

Chauvin is currently imprisoned for both state and federal crimes of multiple counts of murder, manslaughter, and civil rights deprivations. State and federal courts have dismissed Chauvin’s appeals. To be clear, President Trump possesses only the power to pardon Chauvin for the latter federal violations, not the arguably more serious state charges, over which Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, erstwhile Democratic candidate for vice president, holds authority.  

The evidence against Chauvin at trial was compelling. Three pieces of the litigation record are worth recounting why Chauvin was convicted beyond a reasonable doubt of murdering Floyd.  

First, Dr. Martin J. Tobin, an internationally renowned doctor, pulmonologist, and academic, testified as a pro bono expert witness. Dr. Tobin stated that the cause of Floyd’s death was the position in which Chauvin detained him; bringing to bear four forces from 1) Floyd’s prone position 2) the handcuffs around Floyd’s wrists and officers’ knees on Floyd’s 3) back and 4) neck; all of which caused a “low level of oxygen,” and ultimately, death. Dr. Tobin concluded, “A healthy person subjected to what Mr. Floyd was subjected to would have died.” 

Second, even the bystanders in the crowd that day could see what the police officers ignored: George Floyd was not resisting, and he could not breathe. Off-duty Minneapolis firefighter Genevieve Hansen testified that she identified herself, offered help, and pleaded with officers to take Floyd’s pulse, only to be discounted and ordered to stay back. Among the most dangerous of Chauvin’s negative impactful actions on law enforcement is that bystanders may be more likely to ignore officer commands and intervene in future altercations. That will surely make the work of honorable officers so much harder in the days to come. 

Third and perhaps most damning, as the President himself noted contemporaneously, was the distressing video taken by young Darnella Frazier, later admitted into evidence at trial. For at least nine minutes and 29 seconds, Chauvin held his knee on Floyd’s neck until Floyd died due to asphyxia. The President promised vindication, taking to the Rose Garden to say: “All Americans were rightly sickened and revolted by the brutal death of George Floyd. My administration is fully committed that, for George and his family, justice will be served. He will not have died in vain.” Some 26 million Americans marched in response to what they saw with their own eyes, the largest collective movement on American soil. 

Beyond the fact of Chauvin’s guilt, President Trump has built hard-won capital in the minority community, in the face of constant mainstream media bias. President Trump’s economic record for African Americans is spectacular. In his first term, black unemployment hit record lows. Black poverty hit all-time low numbers. Black homeownership set historic highs. 

This president has performed better at the ballot box with minority voters than any Republican before him. One in three people of color voted for him in 2024. Among black men under the age of 45, the demographic that mirrored most closely George Floyd, President Trump received an astonishing 30 percent of the vote in the last election. President Trump has shown the Republican party the path forward to a multicultural, middle-class coalition at a time when the demographics of the United States are shifting rapidly under our feet. 

President Trump has proven himself the boldest Republican executive since Abraham Lincoln. Like our greatest president, he has staked his political survival, indeed his very life, on the sanctity of human life and the dream of economic prosperity. The next four years bring the hope of unleashing global American dominance and equal dignity for every citizen here at home. President Trump should not allow a man as base as Derek Chauvin to burn it all down.