This week, Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro will begin a five-part series titled “The Case For Derek Chauvin.”
“This is going to be a comprehensive, multi-episode breakdown of the case — all the facts, all the evidence, all the political context,” Shapiro says in the first episode of the five-part series, which will premier Tuesday.
Chauvin was convicted in 2021 of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd after a traffic stop on May 25, 2020. He was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison. Chauvin appealed his conviction, but the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld the decision and the United States Supreme Court declined to review the case. After the verdict was delivered, President Joe Biden declared, “Today’s verdict is a step forward.”
Chauvin was later convicted on federal charges of depriving Floyd of his constitutional rights and received a 21-year sentence.
Floyd’s death was used as justification for riots throughout the summer of 2020.
“Dozens of people were killed or injured in the violent unrest, and thousands of businesses and properties, many minority-owned, were looted, torched, or otherwise vandalized,” the Foundation for Economic Education noted. Fifteen people reportedly died as a result of the riots. “The arson, vandalism and looting… will result in at least $1 billion to $2 billion of paid insurance claims,” Axios reported. That only estimated losses that were insured, thus underestimating the likely damage.
Shapiro has called for President Trump to pardon Chauvin of the federal charges against him, stating:
“The evidence demonstrates that Derek Chauvin did not, in fact, commit murder of George Floyd. George Floyd was high on fentanyl. He had a significant preexisting heart condition. George Floyd was saying he could not breathe before he was even out of the car. He was in the car saying he could not breathe. Derek Chauvin, for a large segment of the tape that was shown, had his knee on George Floyd’s shoulder or back, not on his neck.”
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“The autopsy of George Floyd showed that he had no damage to his trachea, that probably George Floyd died of excited delirium,” Shapiro continued. “There were no accusations, even at trial, that Derek Chauvin had committed a hate crime against George Floyd, or that he targeted George Floyd because of his race.”
Shapiro noted that “it is worthwhile to remember that there is a man who is rotting in prison because the media decided in the middle of 2020 that they were going to turn a tragic law enforcement stop that ended with the death of a man who had a significant problem with drugs and preexisting health problems into the raison d’etre of the entire 2020 election.”
“It led to vast chaos,” Shapiro said. “It led to the destruction of racial comity in the United States, $2 billion in property damage, and a guy rotting in prison who, the evidence demonstrates, certainly was not guilty beyond reasonable doubt in that case.”
