Stop Trying To Humanise Derek Chauvin

Yesterday, former police officer Derek Chauvin was finally held accountable for the murder of George Floyd after a long-awaited trial verdict. Found guilty on all three counts (second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter) he faces a maximum prison sentence of 75 years however it will be eight weeks before we see his sentencing.

A lot will be taken into account in his sentencing, including the fact he has no prior criminal history, potentially resulting in 12.5 years for each murder charge and four years for the manslaughter. However, Minnesota state has asked for a stricter sentence for Chauvin given the nature of the crime, the way Chauvin treated Floyd with ‘particular cruelty’, killed him in front of children and ‘abused his position of authority’.

When you read quotes like that, it’s hard to imagine how a judge wouldn’t want to give Chauvin the maximum sentence. And yet, there is so much scepticism about how long he will truly face knowing how deep the roots of white supremacy run in our societies – and in particular, the insidious ways law enforcement historically protect each other potentially extending to the judge.

You only have to look at the Google Trends search terms to see this in action, as we speak. Right now, as well as ‘Derek Chauvin innocent’, ‘Derek Chauvin kids’, ‘Derek Chauvin wife’ and ‘Does Derek Chauvin have children’ are all major search terms. This is in the UK, by the way – not just the US, where ‘Is Derek Chauvin parents still alive’ and ‘Derek Chauvin family members’ are trending too.

Some people might simply wish to know more about his life, sure – maybe they want to see whether his family are supporting a murderer or whether they’re safe. But mostly, one can assume, many people searching these terms are doing so in an attempt to humanise him.

They want to see the look on his family's face seeing Chauvin found guilty so they can share it with friends, perhaps reply to a comment online about how he was a ‘family man’ or even store up some information for debates on whether he was as cruel as was portrayed in court in order to find him guilty on all counts.

In actual fact, Chauvin has no children and his wife, Kellie, filed divorce papers the day after he was charged. That was met with scrutiny though, with Washington County District Judge Juanita Freeman rejecting their initial settlement in October citing possible fraud - their divorce settlement would've transferred most of Derek Chauvin's assets to his wife, adding to speculation that they were trying to protect funds from litigation against Chauvin. In February this year, their divorce went through.

But what we should really be focusing on isn't whether he's still married, whether he has children or parents watching this play out. What we should be focusing on is that Chauvin was found guilty of murder and manslaughter by a jury of his peers, in less than 10 hours I might add.

This is a man who used his police office badge to kneel on a man’s neck for nine minutes as children and families watched on in horror, all because of a 911 call alleging Floyd used a fake $20 bill. A man who stayed kneeling on Floyd’s neck with all his weight as he begged for life, shouting that he couldn’t breathe as others watching pleaded with him to get off him.

He has shown no remorse, never apologising and only speaking once during the trial to refuse to testify. He had 18 prior complaints against him, according to the Minneapolis Police Department's Internal Affairs and all we know since the guilty verdict landed is that he is expected to appeal it.

Knowing these facts, how then can anyone attempt to humanise this man? How can you justify bringing up the fact he has a family in attempts to make someone who can commit such a disgusting, abhorrent crime seem civilised in any way? The only explanation is blatant, conscious racism. If your first instinct upon hearing that Chauvin was found guilty is to find some good in his character, that’s clear.

So when we look towards his sentencing, it’s no wonder many are concerned by whether he will receive the full force of the law – because not even a day since his conviction, people are already attempting to guilt others into caring about a police officer who coldly murdered a working class, Black man in broad daylight.

We’re watching white supremacy play out in real time, despite the verdict, because it’s all of these insidious ways people attempt to humanise the white men who kill Black people that show just how deep-rooted racism is in our society.

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