Federal Lawsuits Filed Against Former Minneapolis Policeman Convicted Of Murdering George Floyd
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted in April 2021 of murdering George Floyd during an arrest, faces two federal lawsuits for allegedly using similar brutal arrest tactics three years before he killed Floyd.
John Pope and Zoya Code filed lawsuits on Tuesday (May 31) accusing Chauvin of excessive force, including using a knee to restrain them, during arrests in 2017, CBS Minnesota reports. The suit also names seven other Minneapolis police officers and the City of Minneapolis as defendants.
The plaintiffs and their lawyer Bob Bennett held a press conference Tuesday to discuss the lawsuit and Chauvin’s “racist policing and unchecked use of excessive force.”
“We called it torture, we called it subjugation, and we meant it,” Bennett said. “Had he been terminated in 2017, I guess George would be alive and the city would not have burned.”
A viral video of the May 25, 2020 arrest showed Chauvin pressing his knee on Floyd’s neck while the Black man was handcuffed and face down on the ground. Three other former Minneapolis police officers at the scene ignored Floyd complaining that he couldn’t breathe and dismissed people observing the arrest who pleaded with them to stop Chauvin.
The lawsuit says Pope was 14 years old when Chauvin struck him several times with a flashlight before restraining him in the prone position for 15 minutes. Chauvin is accused of pressing his knee on Code’s neck for 4 minutes and 41 seconds while another officer at the scene stood by and did nothing. At the press conference, Bennett showed police body camera footage to support the claim.
“It took George Floyd dying for somebody to look into it,” Pope said. “You look at a police department to protect you but they did the complete opposite.”
According to the lawsuit, MPD authorities approved Chauvin’s use of force in the two arrests, enabling the disgraced former officer to continue using his heavy-handed tactics. Pope and Code are seeking monetary damages for their injuries.
