Elon Musk said on X that former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is not a murderer and should be released from prison. The Tesla CEO made the statement hours after Fox News reported that Chauvin is seeking to have his state murder conviction vacated. Chauvin was convicted in the 2020 death of George Floyd, an incident that led to weeks of protests and unrest across the United States.
Chauvin, now 50 years old, was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison following his April 2021 conviction. Floyd, who was 46 at the time, died in May 2020 after Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes while Floyd was face down on the ground with his hands behind his back. The case drew widespread attention after a video of the arrest was made public.
Musk wrote that Chauvin was treated unfairly by the court system. “Derek Chauvin was unjustly convicted of murder, therefore he should be freed,” Musk posted. “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.”
Chauvin’s lawyers file new request to pause ongoing appeal
According to Mediaite, this is the third attempt by Chauvin to challenge his conviction. In November, he filed a request to have the conviction vacated. A judge rejected that request on May 1, about seven months later. In June, Chauvin’s team appealed the judge’s decision rejecting the earlier motion.
On Tuesday, Chauvin’s lawyers asked the court to pause the current appeal. They want time to present new claims to the trial court. One of the main arguments is that Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison should not have been given the authority to prosecute the case against Chauvin. Similar efforts appear in other cases, including one defendant filing a murder appeal.
The lawyers stated in court papers that Chauvin learned of further problems with how the case was handled. “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,” the filing said, cited by Fox News.
Chauvin’s legal team also raised other issues. They argued that judicial bias and the decision not to use a grand jury amounted to structural errors in the prosecution. These claims form the basis of the latest effort to reopen questions about the fairness of the original proceedings.
The original conviction came after a trial that focused on the events of May 2020. The video showed Chauvin restraining Floyd during an arrest. Floyd’s death sparked large protests in Minneapolis and in cities across the country for weeks afterward. Chauvin was found guilty and received a prison term of 22.5 years.
Chauvin remains in prison while the legal process continues. His lawyers are now apparently asking the appeals court to hold the current case so the trial court can review the new due process arguments. The filing centers on the assignment of the attorney general to the case by the governor and on other claimed problems with how the prosecution was structured.
The sequence of filings shows repeated efforts by Chauvin’s side to challenge the conviction. The first post-conviction attempt was rejected in May. The appeal of that rejection is the matter the lawyers now want paused. The newest papers introduce claims about the attorney general’s role and about the lack of a grand jury, as well as alleged judicial bias. High-profile cases sometimes involve further shifts, such as a conviction overturned over jury issues.
Fox News reported the details of the Tuesday request. The lawyers reportedly framed the issues as violations of Chauvin’s rights that affect the validity of the conviction. It is reported that they asked the court for time to bring those matters before the original trial court rather than continuing only with the existing appeal.
Musk’s statement aligned with the view that the conviction was unjust. He pointed to the evidence on the cause of death and the absence of intent to kill. His posts used clear language to argue that Chauvin should not be classified as a murderer and should therefore be released.
Chauvin was the officer involved in the arrest that ended with Floyd’s death in May 2020. The conviction and 22.5-year sentence followed in 2021. The current legal efforts seek to set aside that result based on the newly raised claims about due process and the structure of the prosecution.
Published: Aug 20, 2026 12:28 pm