Elon Musk Says Derek Chauvin Is 'Not a Murderer' as Convicted Officer Fights To Overturn George Floyd Case

Elon Musk has claimed that Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, is 'not a murderer', as the ex-police officer launches a fresh legal bid to overturn his 2021 conviction.

Musk made the assertion on X on Wednesday, hours after it emerged that Chauvin, now 50, had filed new court papers challenging his prosecution.

Elon Musk Defends Derek Chauvin on X

To recall, Chauvin was convicted in April 2021 of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter over Floyd's death, aged 46, after kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes during a May 2020 arrest.

Footage of Floyd, face down with his hands cuffed behind his back, circulated worldwide and helped trigger weeks of protests across the United States. Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years for the state conviction, alongside a separate 21-year federal sentence.

Posting on his social media network X on Wednesday afternoon, Musk set out a direct defence of the former officer. 'Derek Chauvin was unjustly convicted of murder, therefore he should be freed,' Musk wrote in his post.

The executive went on to argue that the legal threshold for a murder conviction had not been satisfied by the prosecution during the trial. 'The facts show that he was not the cause of death, nor did he at any time intend for a death to occur. Whatever else he may be, he is not a murderer. That is the truth,' Musk added.

Musk posted his remarks shortly after reports emerged detailing Chauvin's latest legal filing. The billionaire offered no new documentation or medical evidence to support his assertion, but his comments give renewed online prominence to arguments that the conviction was fundamentally flawed.

Legal Strategy Surrounding Derek Chauvin

The social media comments coincided with fresh court papers filed by legal representatives acting for Derek Chauvin. On Tuesday, attorneys representing Chauvin asked the appellate court to temporarily pause his active appeal.

The requested pause is intended to allow the trial court time to examine newly raised claims regarding how the prosecution was originally conducted.

Central to this latest legal filing is an allegation concerning executive actions taken by state leadership prior to the trial. Defence attorneys contend that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz exceeded his authority when he transferred prosecutorial oversight to state officials.

In official court papers, representatives for Chauvin stated: 'Mr. Chauvin became aware of additional violations of Mr. Chauvin's due process rights in the unlawful assignment of authority by Governor Tim Walz to Attorney General Keith Ellison to prosecute State v. Chauvin.'

Court Challenges Mount for Derek Chauvin

This recent application marks the third distinct effort by Derek Chauvin to dismantle his state court conviction.

In November, Chauvin applied to have the murder conviction vacated entirely, a request that was subsequently rejected by a judge roughly seven months later on 1 May. Chauvin moved forward in June with a formal appeal against the judge's rejection.

Alongside claims surrounding the involvement of the attorney general, attorneys for Chauvin are raising broader constitutional objections regarding how the legal proceedings were structured.

Legal filings from Chauvin's team assert that judicial bias and a failure to convene a grand jury constituted structural errors that compromised the integrity of the prosecution.

The legal dispute over the conviction has extended across several years, with repeated efforts from Chauvin's defence team to challenge procedural decisions.

Whether a series of technical arguments can overturn a conviction that has already been tested in multiple courts now rests once again with the judiciary.