More charges and arrests could come in the cop-related slaying of George Floyd, says Minnesota’s AG

Minnesotta Attorney General Keith Ellison says he expects the former police officer charged with murder for the cop-related slaying of George Floyd in Minneapolis will be slapped with additional charges. 

Derek Chauvin, 44, who was fired over the incident which has sparked violent protests and looting in cities across the US, already was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter Friday.

He is currently on suicide watch at the Ramsey County Jail in St. Paul, where he is being held on $500,000 bail.  

Ellison adds that three other ex-cops involved in the incident – Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng – also are facing possible arrest. 

‘Let me say that we are very early in this process, very early. It is not uncommon to amend charges. It is not uncommon to add defendants,’ Ellison said Sunday, when asked how satisfied he was with the charges already filed after the incident during an interview, Fox News reports. 

‘The fact is that the investigation is still going on and it actually, it’s actually in the middle of the investigation, or maybe even the beginning of the middle, he explains.

‘And so I don’t want anyone to conclude that these are all the charges that are going be there.’

Footage emerged Monday of Chauvin, who is white, kneeling on the neck Floyd, a black man, for more than eight minutes until he passed out and later died, sparking outrage over police brutality and setting off the protests across the nation.

Since then, protesters and Floyd’s family have called for the arrests of former officers Kueng, Lane and Thao and for a more serious charge to be brought against Chauvin. 

As the protesting has continued, mayors of several cities and other officials blamed small groups and outsiders for escalating the violence. Protesters ‘are coming in largely from outside of the city, from outside of the region, to prey on everything we have built over the last several decades,’ said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Vox reports.  

St. Paul’s Mayor Melvin Carter initially insisted ‘we don’t know these folks,’ after claiming every person arrested during violent protesting Friday was from out of town. He later backed off the statement saying he had relied on ‘inaccurate’ data to make the statement. 

Meanwhile, Chauvin since his arrest is allegedly on suicide watch and being checked in on around the clock. TMZ reported Saturday that Chauvin has a camera focused on him all day and and cops check on his cell in person every 15 minutes. 

It adds that Chauvin is under constant surveillance and is in isolation. He remains in a single cell in a part of the facility set aside for high-profile cases. TMZ also reports that a source says that the former police officer didn’t make eye contact with anyone when he was brought into the jail on Friday and that he was subject to an unclothed body search. 

He was then placed in a prison uniform and led to his cell. Checks on a cell every 15 minutes are said to be common in such a high-profile case, TMZ’s source said, but it is not confirmed if there is a threat to Chauvin’s life. 

Chauvin is reported to have 23 hours in his cell a day with one hour for recreation. He also has access to books, pencils and paper. 

The officer’s wife, Kellie Chauvin, has filed for divorce following his arrest and is said to be distraught over Floyd’s death.

‘She is devastated by Mr. Floyd’s death and her utmost sympathy lies with his family, with his loved ones and with everyone who is grieving this tragedy,’ the Sekula Law Offices said in a statement on behalf of Kellie Chauvin and her family. 

The arrest followed days of nationwide protests and riots demanding his arrest, after the video of him kneeling on Floyd’s neck for allegedly trying to use a counterfeit $20 bill at a deli went viral.

According to the criminal complaint against Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer was said to have had his knee on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds, with nearly three minutes of the time being after Floyd had become non-responsive. 

Floyd was then taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

On Thursday evening it was revealed Floyd had actually worked with Chauvin as security guards at the El Nuevo Rodeo club, the club owner confirmed.

‘Chauvin was our off-duty police for almost the entirety of the 17 years that we were open,’ Maya Santamaria told KSTP-TV.  

Protesters and Floyd’s family continue to call for the arrests of former officers Kueng, Lane and Tou Thao and for a more serious charge to be brought against Chauvin. 

‘We call on authorities to revise the charges [against Chauvin] to reflect the culpability of this officer,’ a statement from the family Friday said. 

‘We fully expect to see the other officers who did nothing to protect the life of George Floyd to be arrested and charged soon.’

The criminal complaint filed against Chauvin Friday also cited the preliminary findings from a Tuesday autopsy conducted by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner which saw ‘no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxiation or strangulation’.

‘Mr. Floyd had underlying health conditions including coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease,’ said the complaint from the Hennepin County Attorney.

‘The combined effects of Mr. Floyd being restrained by police, his underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system likely contributed to his death.’

The full medical examiner’s report is pending but Floyd’s family have hired the services of former New York medical officer Dr. Michael Baden to perform a second independent autopsy. 

They are unhappy with the findings from the county medical examiner that they claim create an ‘illusion’ of underlying health conditions being responsible for his death.