The internet and the state of Minnesota are all abuzz as rumors grow that President Donald Trump might take the momentous step of pardoning Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis-St. Paul police officer who was found guilty on state and federal counts over the death of George Floyd, the incident that sparked the 2020 riots.
As background, Gov. Walz and state and local officials, such as the Minnesota National Guard and the city of Minneapolis, are reportedly preparing for expected, massive riots if President Trump does pardon Mr. Chauvin, saying that though they don’t know what Trump will do, the possibility is real enough that preparation must be done.
The explosiveness surrounding the situation made its way to X (formerly Twitter), when local media station KTSP tweeted, “Multiple sources told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that Gov. Tim Walz, the Minnesota National Guard, Mayor Jacob Frey and Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt have all been briefed on preparations for possible civil unrest if President Donald Trump pardons former [police officer Derek Chauvin.”
That post, in turn, made its way to the conservative side of X, where a wide variety of commenters and quote-tweeters called for the pardon to occur, while also noting that it would be hard for the president to do much for him, as Chauvin was also convicted on a state charge and Gov. Walz is unwilling to pardon him.
Amongst the higher-profile accounts posting about the situation was The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro. He wrote, as a quote-tweet of the KTSP post, “President Trump should, as we have been calling for, pardon Chauvin. One of the biggest reasons Chauvin was convicted was jury and political intimidation by rioters. Now the same people who helped railroad him are concerned that people might riot if justice is done.”
A commenter on Shapiro’s post broached a way that Chauvin could be kept out of a Minnesota prison and pardoned, saying, “President Trump should transfer Derek Chauvin to El Salvador prison first. Then give them a full pardon. Chauvin then can apply for political asylum and the Trump administration will be unable to facilitate his return to Minnesota. What do you think?”
Similarly, another account reposting the KTSP tweet said, “Trump should pardon Chauvin, immediately have federal agents take him into custody, move him to Florida or a similar state that promises to resist extradition to Minnesota on civil rights grounds. His imprisonment – and the attempt on his life – are a stain on America.”
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Shapiro’s fellow Daily Wire personality Matt Walsh has long been calling for Chauvin’s pardon. In mid-March of this year, for example, he wrote, “Trump has all the momentum right now, which makes it a perfect time to pardon Chauvin. If Dems react to it by further glorifying and worshiping Fentanyl Floyd, all the better. Let them do it. That’s a losing proposition for them politically. Also, pardoning Chauvin is just simply the right thing to do. Trump is not the kind of man who refrains from doing the right thing because of how it might look.”
Back in April of 2021, Walsh had tweeted, amongst many other comments in support of Chauvin, “There is, at a very minimum, reasonable doubt about how George Floyd died and what role the drugs played in his death. Derek Chauvin should therefore be acquitted. You don’t have to like him or believe he is innocent. Reasonable doubt is the standard. That’s all that matters.”
In March, however, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the president was not considering pardoning Mr. Chauvin, so it is unclear if the rumors of a pardon spread by Gov. Walz have any validity. Watch Leavitt discuss the matter here: