Derek Chauvin, The Officer Charged With George Floyd's Murder, Almost Had A Plea Deal

The day before the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension arrested Derek Chauvin for 3rd-degree murder (upgraded to 2nd-degree murder a week later) and manslaughter, there was a deal on the table that fell apart because of the uproar surrounding his killing of George Floyd, the unarmed black man whose neck Chauvin had his knee on for 8 minutes and 43 seconds even though Floyd offered no resistance.

Chuck Laszewski, who is the Hennepin County attorney’s office spokesperson, said to KMSP-TV that “Ultimately, those negotiations failed.” The report also said: “How and why the deal fell apart, what was the offer on the table, and who walked away, is still unclear.”

The report cited unnamed sources familiar negotiations that it would have been a “universal deal” that would have included state murder charges as well as federal civil rights charges. The talks delayed by two hours a press conference May 28 in front of the FBI’s Brooklyn Center headquarters. Tom Kelly, who represented Chauvin at the time declined to comment, the report said. It said his current attorney Eric Nelson did not return calls for comment.

ABC News reported the prosecutor's office as saying it wasn't unusual to have such negotiations in high-profile cases, or the fact that a deal wasn't reached.

The revelation follows Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd, addressing Congress in an emotional talk about the cost of police brutality on African Americans in America, and across the globe. Philonise stated in his plea to the House Judiciary Committee that his brother died, “... because [Chauvin] didn’t like him and it has to be racist.”

Chauvin faces 40 years in prison if convicted of all charges, but now there is the revelation by ABC News that there was actually a plea deal being considered by prosecutors whereby he would have agreed to plead guilty to a “universal deal” involving civil rights violations and murder, assumably to garner a lighter sentence than the one he now faces.

Many want to see sweeping police reforms and/or the defunding of police in the wake of George's killing. Recently, the Chief of Police in Minneapolis, Medaria Arradondo, decreed that the department will stop the negotiation of contracts with the police union for the time being. He also told the press that he will use a “new system” to eliminate problem officers and take early action, according to the Associated Press and the Star Tribune.

The “Defund the Police” movement is being backed by some big hitters on Capitol Hill with the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez throwing in with those who want to see money taken from police departments to fund social welfare programs. Specifically, she is looking to take money from the budget of the New York City Police Department (NYPD). She said in a recent tweet by Spectrum News NY1 that she is “... actively engaged in advocacy for is... the reduction of our NYPD budget”

The movement aimed at reforming the police in America has drawn criticism from President Donald Trump. White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said, “The President is appalled by the defund the police movement. The fact that you have sitting congresswomen wanting to defund the police, notably Rashida Talib, it is extraordinary.”

She blamed “the left,” for the call to action and said that they are trying to “roll back the protective layers in their homes and places of business. He [Trump] is appalled by it.”