Derek Chauvin pleads not guilty in 2017 excessive force case involving 14-year-old Black boy

(MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.) — Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder in George Floyd’s death, pleaded not guilty Thursday for allegedly violating the civil rights of a 14-year-old in 2017.

This indictment alleges that Chauvin deprived the teenager of his right to be free of unreasonable force. The indictment claims that Chauvin held the teen by his throat, hit him on the head with a flashlight and then kneeled on his neck and upper back as the teen was handcuffed and no longer resisting.

The restraint was similar to the one he used on Floyd and resulted in bodily injury for the teen, according to the indictment.

This teenager, like Floyd, is Black.

At least 18 complaints had been filed against Chauvin during his 19-year tenure with the Minneapolis police department, according to department records.

Floyd was killed in May 2020 after he was placed under arrest on the suspicion that he was using a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes at a convenience store.

In the Floyd murder trial, prosecutors presented evidence of Chauvin’s history of restraining people by kneeling on their neck or upper back — highlighting eight different incidences to the judge.

In Floyd’s death, Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for pressing his knee against Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes. He was sentenced to 22 and-a-half-years in prison.

Judge Peter Cahill rejected Chauvin’s request for a new trial in June.

Chauvin and his fellow former officers Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao have also been charged with violating Floyd’s constitutional rights in ways that “resulted in bodily injury to, and the death of, George Floyd,” according to the federal grand jury indictment.

They all pleaded not guilty.

Lane, Kueng and Thao also face a state trial on charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. They have also entered not guilty pleas on these charges.

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