AG Bill Barr Reportedly Nixed Third-Degree Murder Guilty Plea by Police Officer Who Knelt on George Floyd’s Neck

Attorney General Bill Barr rejected at the last minute a guilty plea deal from Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd, citing fears that it would spread further unrest if deemed too lenient

According to a new report from the New York Times, Chauvin had agreed to plead guilty to third-degree murder — with a likely sentence of more than 10 years — just three days after Floyd’s death. Chauvin, who is white, was captured on video kneeling on Floyd’s neck during an arrest for nearly nine minutes, a bombshell moment that sparked worldwide Black Lives Matter protests of police violence and racial inequality.

In exchange for the swift resolution of the case, he wanted a guarantee that he would not face federal charges of civil rights violations.  The plea was all but a done deal, and local officials had even scheduled a press conference to announce it, when Barr refused to comply with Chauvin’s request.

An official said Mr. Barr worried that a plea deal, so early in the process and before a full investigation had concluded, would be perceived as too lenient by the growing number of protesters across America. At the same time, Mr. Barr wanted to allow state officials, who were about to take over the case from the county prosecutor who has had tense relations with Minneapolis’s Black community, to make their own decisions about how to proceed.

Without the plea deal, Chauvin instead chose to take his case to trial, which is scheduled to now start on March 8th. Local and state authorities are anticipating more unrest during the trial and some companies located in downtown Minneapolis are encouraging their employees to work from home throughout the legal proceedings.

“The county medical examiner ruled the death a homicide caused by a combination of the officers’ use of force, the presence of fentanyl and methamphetamine in Mr. Floyd’s system and his underlying health conditions,” the Times noted. “But Mr. Chauvin’s defense strategy, which has emerged in numerous court filings from his lawyer, Eric Nelson, is centered on presenting medical evidence that Mr. Floyd died of a drug overdose.”