Houston’s Third Ward community has a mural honoring the memory of George Floyd (Photo Credit: Regal Media Group/Todd A. Smith).
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, the man responsible for the murder of George Floyd, has transferred to a federal prison in Texas, Floyd’s home state.
The transfer comes nine months after a former gang leader and one-time FBI informant stabbed Chauvin while in another prison facility.
Michael Goldberg of the Associated Press reported, “Chauvin, 47, is now housed at the Federal Correctional Institution in Big Spring, a low security prison. He was previously held in Arizona at FCI Tucson in August 2022 to simultaneously serve a 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights and a 22 1/2 -year sentence for second degree murder.”
In another Floyd-related news, former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane, the man who held down the Houston native’s legs during his fatal encounter with Chauvin, got released from prison after receiving a three-year sentence for aiding and abetting manslaughter.
Lane, 41, pleaded guilty, and admitted that he purposefully held Floyd down in a way that he knew could create unreasonable risk and could lead to Floyd’s death.
The former police officer said he heard Floyd say he could not breathe, realized he had fell silent, did not have a pulse and had lost consciousness.
Goldberg added, “Floyd, 46, died in May 2020 after Chauvin, who is White, pinned him to the ground with a knee on Floyd’s neck as the Black man repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe. Lane, who is White, held down Floyd’s legs. J. Alexander Kueng, who is Black, knelt on Floyd’s back, and Tou Thao, who is Hmong American, kept bystanders from intervening during the 9 1/2 -minute restraint.
“Kueng and Thao are both set to be released in 2025. Kueng is detained at a federal prison in Ohio and Thao at a facility in Kentucky, according to Bureau of Prisons records.”
That murder of Floyd, captured on cellular phone video and going viral on social media, intensified the Black Lives Matter movement and led to racial justice demonstrations from America to Asia.
Floyd’s murder led to people of all races having important, and sometimes uncomfortable, conversations about racial issues, systemic racism and White supremacy.
Professional athletes and entertainers began using their megaphone to speak out against racism, with some athletes like members of the Milwaukee Bucks refusing to play NBA games to make a statement against racism and police brutality.
Despite the conversations and the desire for consensus on racial issues, many on the political right began pushing back on some of the progress being made at bringing members of different races together.
The anti-woke movement began to gain steam in conservative politics, pushing back on talks to eradicate racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia.
Furthermore, books that addressed racism began disappearing from school libraries and classes on Black history faced scrutiny from politicians and school board members because some periods of American history like slavery and Jim Crow made some White parents, students and teachers unhappy.
The anti-woke movement led to a movement to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion efforts on college campuses because many said that a push for diversity discriminated against White men, in particular.
Furthermore, President Donald Trump received criticism from many in the African-American community when he cleared out Black Lives Matter protestors so that he could have a photo-op outside a Washington, D.C. holding a Bible in 2020.
Despite the criticism, the Department of Justice has cleared Trump of any wrongdoing when the protestors were cleared.
“On the basis of the information now available with respect to the claims set forth therein, I find that Donald J. Trump was acting within the scope of federal office or employment at the time of the incident out of which the plaintiffs’ claims arise,” said James Touhey Jr., head of the Torts Branch in the DOJ’s Civil Division.
And although President Joe Biden wanted to pass police reform to honor the memory of Floyd, he faced Republican opposition, which has led to the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act stalling before reaching his desk in the Oval Office.
The issue of police brutality remains a hot-button political issue.
Former President Donald Trump has said that he wants to give police officers immunity.
He also supports a nationwide stop and frisk policy, which would allow police officers the right to pull anyone over and frisk them for any reason.
Many criticized New York’s old stop and frisk policy because they believed police officers targeted more Black and Brown residents than White residents.
Targeting one race more than the other for possible criminal behaviors skews the number of people incarcerated for crimes.
For instance, if Black and Brown communities get overpoliced and possible White criminals do not face the same scrutiny, it might seem that minorities commit more crimes just because they get arrested more often.
While other former police officers convicted of killing Floyd have gotten released or will soon get released, Chauvin’s attempt to overturn his guilty verdicts are seen as a long shot.
If his convictions do not get overturned, Chauvin will not get released in 2038.
Goldberg reported, “John Turscak, who is serving a 30-year sentence for crimes committed while a member of the Mexican Mafia prison gang, attacked Chauvin on Nov. 24, 2023. He told investigators he targeted the ex-Minneapolis police officer because of his notoriety.
“FCI Tucson, a medium-security prison, has been plagued by security lapses and staffing shortages. Chauvin’s lawyer at the time, Eric Nelson, had advocated for keeping him out of general population and away from other inmates, anticipating he would be a target.”
