The Daily Wire host and conservative commentator Ben Shapiro has launched a campaign urging President Trump to pardon Derek Chauvin.
Footage of Chauvin detaining fentanyl addict George Floyd, who later died of a fentanyl overdose, triggered the Black Lives Matter movement and months of violence and social disorder.
Chauvin was convicted in both state and federal court of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter related to Floyd’s death.
His state and federal prison sentences are running concurrently.
However, Floyd’s autopsy report and other compelling evidence indicates that Chauvin was not responsible for Floyd’s death and was wrongly convicted by a kangaroo court.
George Floyd’s autopsy: “No life-threatening injuries identified.”
There’s absolutely no reason Derek Chauvin should be behind bars right now. pic.twitter.com/J7oozHXjMM
— captive dreamer (@captivedreamer7) March 4, 2025
Shapiro, who has one of the most popular conservative podcasts in the world, launched the campaign on Tuesday afternoon.
https://t.co/ZQ9yABoWtM pic.twitter.com/4Wo1R3hamx
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 4, 2025
The campaign website explains:
We write to urge you to immediately issue a pardon for Officer Derek Chauvin, who was unjustly convicted and is currently serving a 22-and-a-half year sentence for the murder of George Floyd and associated federal charges.
As you know, this was the inciting event for the BLM riots that caused $2 billion in property damage in cities across the United States and set America’s race relations on their worst footing in recent memory. Yet the evidence demonstrates that Derek Chauvin did not murder George Floyd.
George Floyd was high on fentanyl. He had a significant pre-existing heart condition. He was saying he could not breathe before he was even out of the car. Derek Chauvin, for large segments of the widely circulated video of the encounter, 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.
There was no accusation at trial that Derek Chauvin targeted George Floyd for his race.
Perhaps most significantly, there was massive overt pressure on the jury to return a guilty verdict regardless of the evidence or any semblance of impartial deliberation. This pressure took the form of threats, coercion, and intimidation.
The Mayor of Minneapolis pre-judged the outcome of the trial and immediately issued a large settlement to the Floyd family. Then-President Biden, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, and others pre-judged the outcome of the trial and took to national media to create pressure on the jury to go along with their preferred narrative.
Under these circumstances, there was no opportunity for blind justice to work, and a man is now rotting in prison because of it.
Make no mistake—the Derek Chauvin conviction represents the defining achievement of the Woke movement in American politics. The country cannot turn the page on that dark, divisive, and racist era without righting this terrible wrong.
Elon Musk also appeared to signal his support for the campaign, saying it was “something to think about.”
Something to think about https://t.co/KbZQEMpFXP
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 4, 2025
Should Donald Trump pardon Chauvin, his federal sentence will be wiped and he would only serve the state sentence.
In this case, he would become eligible under Minnesota law for parole after serving two thirds of his sentence.
You can sign the petition at the following link.
