George Floyd: National Guard deployed after judge dismisses one charge against ex-police officer Derek Chauvin

Despite the dismissal, a more serious second-degree murder charge against Derek Chauvin remains

A Minnesota court has sustained all but one charge against the police officer seen kneeling on the neck of George Floyd before his death, dropping a third-degree murder charge while allowing the more serious second-degree murder charge to remain.

Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill said in a ruling on Thursday there was enough probable cause for the second-degree murder charge and manslaughter charge against Derek Chauvin to proceed to trial. 

He also denied defense requests to dismiss the aiding and abetting counts against three other former officers, Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao.

“In this court's view, with one exception, the State has met its burden of showing probable cause that warrants proceeding to trial against each of these Defendants on each of the criminal charges the State has filed against them,” the judge wrote. He said it will be up to a jury to decide whether the officers are guilty.

In dismissing the third-degree murder charge, the ruling stated that the charged can “be sustained only in situations in which the defendant's actions were 'eminently dangerous to other persons' and were not specifically directed at the particular person whose death occurred”.

Governor Tim Walz activated the state’s National Guard following the announcement of the judge’s ruling, deploying at least 100 guardsmen and another number of state troopers, according to Minneapolis political reporter Theo Keith. The governor tweeted the announcement once the news broke, writing: “BREAKING: Judge upholds murder charges against Derek Chauvin and other officers.”

The governor also described the ruling as an “important step toward justice for George Floyd”.

Mr Floyd, a Black man who was in handcuffs, died in May after Mr Chauvin, a white police officer, was seen kneeling on his neck for several minutes in video recorded from a bystander and posted online. 

His death sparked nationwide anti-racism protests and demonstrations against police brutality that were supported and organized in part by the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Prosecutors argued there was probable cause for the officers to go to trial on all of the charges, saying Mr Chauvin intentionally assaulted Mr Floyd, which is an element of the second-degree murder charge, and that the other officers assisted.

During the entire time that Mr Floyd was pinned to the ground, “the officers remained in the same position: Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck, Kueng and Lane remained atop Floyd’s back and legs, and Thao continued to prevent the crowd of concerned citizens from interceding,” prosecutors said.

The officers ignored Mr Floyd’s pleas to stop, cries from the concerned crowd, and their own training, prosecutors said.

Defense attorneys argued that there was not enough probable cause to charge the former officers. 

Mr Chauvin’s attorney said his client had no intent to assault or kill Floyd, while attorneys for the other officers argued that their clients did not intend or conspire to help Mr Chauvin.

Defense attorneys said Mr Floyd’s drug use was a factor in his death, with Mr Chauvin’s attorney, Eric Nelson, saying Mr Floyd most likely died of “fentanyl or a combination of fentanyl and methamphetamine in concert with his underlying health conditions.”

The county medical examiner classified Mr Floyd’s death as a homicide, with his heart stopping while he was restrained by police and his neck compressed. A summary report listed fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use under “other significant conditions” but not under “cause of death.”

According to prosecutors’ notes, Hennepin County Medical Examiner Andrew Baker told prosecutors that absent other apparent causes of death, it “could be acceptable” to rule the death an overdose, based on the level of fentanyl in Floyd’s system. 

A separate autopsy commissioned for Mr Floyd’s family concluded he died of asphyxiation due to neck and back compression.

The Associated Press contributed to this report