Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with killing George Floyd, had his bail set at $1 million minimum Monday, as Democrats unveiled a police reform bill sparked by Floyd’s death
Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who kept his knee on George Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes as he struggled to breathe and ultimately died, made his first court appearance Monday — hours after congressional Democrats unveiled broad legislation aimed at reforming policing nationwide.
Chauvin, 44, was formally charged with second-degree murder without intent, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, with bail set at a minimum of $1 million.
The appearance came immediately after a weekend of peaceful protests in which massive and diverse crowds of demonstrators demanded change, but it was unclear whether Monday’s legal and legislative developments would satisfy those who have taken to the streets in recent days.
But as Floyd’s memorial service in Houston began Monday, the impact of his death continued to reverberate around the country. The debate shifted from Chauvin’s widely condemned — and now criminally charged — arrest tactic to the hotly debated issue of whether American policing requires a top-to-bottom overhaul. While Black Lives Matter protesters have called on lawmakers to “defund the police” and decried systemic racism in law enforcement, others — led by President Trump — have sought to brand the movement as extreme and argued that policing does not need broad reform.
Speaking at the White House while meeting with representatives of law enforcement, Trump hailed American police as “the finest law enforcement anywhere in the world,” describing those involved in brutality as “bad actors” representing a minuscule fraction of law enforcement.
“We won’t be defunding our police, we won’t be dismantling our police, we won’t be disbanding our police, we won’t be ending our police force in a city,” Trump said. “These people do a tremendous job of protecting the citizens of our country.”
While Trump said he would consider ideas for how police could operate “in a much more gentle fashion,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the president had not yet reviewed the legislation put forward by Democrats. The Justice in Policing Act of 2020 would ban chokeholds, establish a national database to track police misconduct and prohibit certain no-knock warrants, among a wide array of steps.
In another consequence of the protests, Portland Police Chief Jami Resch announced her resignation, announcing as her successor Charlie Lovell, an African American lieutenant. Resch, who is white and has been on the job for six months, called Lovell “the exact right person at the exact right moment.”
The Portland Police Bureau had faced criticism for its handling of the demonstrations, especially after video surfaced of officers using tear gas.
Listen to protesters tell why they’re marching
The debate over policing, and racial inequality, has begun to shape the 2020 presidential race, with Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden staking out starkly different positions. While Trump held a roundtable with law enforcement on Monday, Biden met privately with members of Floyd’s family in Houston.
Trump and his campaign have seized on the “defund the police” mantra in an effort to depict Democrats as weak on crime. The president tweeted Monday, “the Radical Left Democrats want to Defund and Abandon our Police. Sorry, I want LAW & ORDER!”
As Trump was tweeting, his campaign held a call with reporters aimed at linking Biden to the “defund” movement.
