(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Minnesota’s local ABC News affiliate reported Tuesday that Minnesota state officials are preparing for the possibility that President Donald Trump pardons former police officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of murder after George Floyd died of an overdose while in his custody in 2020.
“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 [Trump pardons Chauvin],” 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS reported.
If Trump were to pardon Chauvin, he still wouldn’t go free. He’s serving a federal sentence now, but would still have to face what the state gave him.
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 … https://t.co/sc23ZdVJzq
— KSTP (@KSTP) May 14, 2025
“He still owes Minnesota 22-and-a-half years. And he’s going to do it either in Minnesota or somewhere, but he’s not getting out,” the state’s attorney general reportedly told MSNBC.
Trump’s most recent statement on Chauvin was from March, when he said he hadn’t heard of any rumors about a pardon.
Chauvin is currently sitting in the Texas low-security prison FCI Big Spring after being stabbed 22 times in an Arizona correctional facility in 2023.
Chauvin’s alleged stabber, 54-year-old former Mexican mafia member John Turscak, is set to stand trial in July over that incident.
Tursack allegedly stabbed Chauvin at the Federal Correctional Institution, Tucson, a medium-security prison that has been plagued by security lapses and staffing shortages.
According to a 2001 article from the Los Angeles Times, Tursack is a former FBI informant who admitted to committing numerous crimes while working as an undercover FBI informant.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
