Letter Signed By Minneapolis PD Cops Condemns Chauvin's Actions

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – A group of 14 prominent Minneapolis police officers and detectives has wholeheartedly condemned the actions of former officer Derek Chauvin, who kept his knee pinned against the neck of George Floyd for nearly nine minutes on Memorial Day, leading to his death and sparking national outrage.

In an open letter addressed to “everyone – but especially Minneapolis residents”, the officers wrote that Chauvin “failed as a human being and stripped George Floyd of his dignity and life,” read the letter, which was obtained by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Chauvin was one of four white Minneapolis police officers who were fired and charged in Floyd’s death on Memorial Day. Chauvin, who made his first court appearance on Monday on charges of second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, is being held on $1.25 million bail in state prison.

In the letter, the officers wrote that Chauvin, like every other Minneapolis police officer, took an oath to hold the sanctity of life most precious. But when Floyd died in police custody after passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a Cup Foods store, Chauvin’s actions – along with the other officers – failed to live up to the standard set for police officers.

The incident involving the four now former officers was captured on video and showed Floyd pleading for Chauvin to remove his knee from Floyd’s neck as Floyd told officers he couldn’t breathe. The other officers, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao, are awaiting trial on charges of aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter.

“This is not who we are,” the letter, issued Thursday, read.

Since Floyd’s death, demonstrators have rallied at protests calling for the city to disband the Minneapolis Police Department. Nine city council members have vowed to vote for a process to start that would end the police department. Mayor Jacob Frey has said that he supports police reform but not the breaking up of the department.

The letter makes it clear that the officers are speaking on their own and not for any police officials or union, but those who signed the letter are among the department’s most prominent officers, the Star-Tribune reported.

“We are leaders, formal and informal, and from all ranks within the Minneapolis Police Department,” the letter said. “We’re not the union or the administration. We are officers who represent the voices of hundreds of other Minneapolis Police Officers. Hundreds. We acknowledge that Chief Arradondo needs each of us to dutifully follow him while he shows us the way.”