Anadolu staff
22 May 2025•Update: 22 May 2025
ISTANBUL
Minneapolis officials are voicing concerns that efforts to dismantle police reform, coupled with renewed calls to pardon former officer Derek Chauvin, could erode hard-won gains made since the murder of George Floyd, CNN reported Wednesday.
George Floyd was killed on May 25, 2020, by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who kneeled on his neck for nearly 10 minutes.
Chauvin was sentenced to more than two decades in prison after state and federal convictions. He is currently serving his sentence in a federal facility in Texas. A presidential pardon, according to the report, would only apply to his federal sentence and would likely return him to a Minnesota state prison.
The Trump administration has moved to end court-authorized consent decrees in cities including Minneapolis, Louisville, and Phoenix — a step that would halt federal oversight of local police reform.
The rollback comes amid pressure from some right-wing figures, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and commentator Ben Shapiro, who are urging US President Donald Trump to pardon Chauvin.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison told CNN that pardoning Chauvin “would be to express yet more disrespect for George Floyd and more disrespect for the rule of law.”
George Floyd’s brother, Terrence Floyd, said the effort to undo reforms feels like reopening a wound. “This is the fifth year, we were supposed to see progress,” he told CNN. “Now they’re backpedaling.”
Local officials are exploring how to continue reforming the Minneapolis Police Department even without federal support. The US Department of Justice launched an investigation into the city’s police force shortly after Floyd’s death and had been working in partnership with city leaders.
