Elon Musk Backs Requests to Pardon George Floyd’s Killer Derek Chauvin

In one of the most shocking and deplorable moves yet, Elon Musk has co-signed a call to pardon George Floyd’s killer, Derek Chauvin.

Musk chimed in when conservative media figure Ben Shapiro launched a petition urging Donald Trump to free the ex-Minneapolis police officer, convicted in the tragic 2020 murder of Floyd, which ignited global protests.

Shapiro’s petition read, “We write to urge you to immediately issue a pardon for Officer Derek Chauvin, who was unjustly convicted and is currently serving a 22-and-a-half-year sentence for the murder of George Floyd and associated federal charges.”

Floyd’s death, caught on video, showed him pleading, “I can’t breathe,” as Chauvin kneeled on his neck for nearly ten minutes, sparking nationwide demonstrations and amplifying the Black Lives Matter movement.

Shapiro’s letter claimed Floyd’s death was the “inciting event for the BLM riots,” which he argued damaged property and worsened America’s racial tensions. He also contended there were “gaps in the evidence” and emphasized the “massive overt pressure on the jury to return a guilty verdict regardless of the evidence.” He added, “Under these circumstances, there was no opportunity for blind justice to work, and a man is now rotting in prison because of it.”

Chauvin, convicted in two separate trials, is serving both a state sentence for second-degree murder and a federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights. Musk, in a post on Twitter, remarked, “Something to think about,” aligning himself with Shapiro’s controversial petition.

Something to think about https://t.co/KbZQEMpFXP

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 4, 2025