DOJ weighing additional charges against Derek Chauvin for using force on Black teen in 2017

Former Minneapolis police officer accused of heavy-handed response to teenager four years ago

Scrutiny of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer found guilty earlier this week of murdering George Floyd, may continue even after Tuesday’s verdict.

The Department of Justice is reportedly still weighing whether to bring additional charges against Chauvin relating to a 2017 incident, where he allegedly use similar types of manoeuvres as he did on Mr Floyd, including a knee on the neck, against a 14-year-old Black teenager, ABC News reports.

Last year, as state prosecutors prepared their case against Chauvin for the murder of Mr Floyd, they sought to introduce evidence relating to the 2017 arrest. According to a court filing, in that incident, a 14-year-old Black boy was reportedly slow to comply with officers’ instructions, so Chauvin allegedly grabbed him by the throat, forced him to the ground, and put a knee into his neck and back, kneeling on top of him for nearly 17 minutes as the boy complained he couldn’t breathe.

The circumstances are reminiscent of Chauvin’s fatal arrest of Mr Floyd, where the officer and two colleagues knelt on Mr Floyd’s neck and back for more than 9 minutes, as the man told police he couldn’t breathe 27 times.

“He could not breathe. And just like with Floyd, Chauvin ignored those pleas and refused to provide medical assistance,” prosecutors wrote at the time.

The Hennepin County Court ultimately rejected the introduction of that past case as evidence into the Chauvin trial, but the DOJ is pressing on in considering charges. In February, as the George Floyd murder trial continued, the federal government convened a grand jury hearing that included witness testimony about Mr Chauvin’s past use of force.

It’s not the first time Chauvin has been accused of excessive force. Though it was largely kept out of the trial, Chauvin had a long record of using force, often against people of colour, which continued through the days just before he arrested George Floyd and resulted in 22 complaints or internal investigations over his 19 years on the force, but only one formal instance of discipline. His conviction is believed to be just the second time an on-duty Minnesota police officer has been convicted of murder in the state’s history, and the first time for a white officer.

He reportedly was ready to accept a plea deal before his trial began if he could avoid federal civil rights charges, The New York Times reported, before the previous US attorney William Barr scuttled the deal, saying the investigation against Chauvin needed more time to proceed.

The potential federal charges come amid broader scrutiny of the Minneapolis Police Department in the wake of the George Floyd killing.

After months of community members demanding federal scrutiny of the department, this week, the DOJ announced it would conduct a so-called “pattern or practice” investigation of the MPD to see if had engaged in unconstitutional or unlawful police practices.

Such investigations are often the prelude to federal consent decrees with police departments, legally binding court-sanctioned agreements between the government and local police forces to change their practices.