Elon Musk Calls for Federal Pardon of Derek Chauvin

Elon Musk called for the release of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd. Using his social media platform X, Musk shared a formal petition launched by conservative commentator Ben Shapiro that demands a federal pardon for Chauvin.

Musk argued that the verdict was unjust and claimed that the facts show Chauvin was not the cause of death, citing the presence of fentanyl and other drugs in Floyd's system. These claims contradict official medical findings, which attributed the death to cardiopulmonary arrest caused by Chauvin pressing his knee into Floyd's neck for over nine minutes.

Legal experts noted that because Chauvin was convicted on both state and federal charges, a presidential pardon would only release him from his federal sentence. Chauvin is currently serving a 22-year sentence for second-degree unintentional murder.