*Elon Musk is calling for Derek Chauvin to be freed from prison, declaring the former Minneapolis police officer was “unjustly convicted” of murdering George Floyd — a claim that collides directly with the medical evidence and causation findings upheld by Minnesota’s appellate court.
“Derek Chauvin was unjustly convicted of murder, therefore he should be freed,” Musk wrote Wednesday on X. He added that “the facts show that he was not the cause of death” and said Chauvin “is not a murderer.”
Musk’s intervention comes as Chauvin launches another legal effort to erase his state conviction. His attorney filed a third petition for postconviction relief Tuesday, according to MPR News, arguing that alleged structural and due-process violations render the prosecution invalid.
Musk’s Claim Meets the Court Record
Musk’s assertion that Chauvin did not cause Floyd’s death is his opinion. It is not what the jury found or what the Minnesota Court of Appeals subsequently upheld.
Hennepin County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Baker determined Floyd’s immediate cause of death was “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression.”
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The Minnesota Court of Appeals cited Baker’s finding in its 2023 decision affirming Chauvin’s convictions and concluded that the state presented sufficient evidence for a jury to find that Chauvin caused Floyd’s death.
Floyd died May 25, 2020, after Chauvin restrained him for approximately nine minutes and 29 seconds. Video of Floyd repeatedly saying he could not breathe before becoming unresponsive sparked protests across the United States and around the world.
A jury convicted Chauvin in 2021 of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
Chauvin Takes a Third Shot at His Conviction
Chauvin’s latest petition does not simply relitigate whether jurors believed the medical evidence.
His attorney argues that his due-process rights were violated by alleged structural problems with the prosecution, including Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s assignment of Attorney General Keith Ellison to the case and the failure to convene a grand jury before charges were brought.
Those are defense allegations, not judicial findings.
Chauvin is asking for his convictions to be vacated and charges dismissed, or alternatively for an evidentiary hearing. MPR reports that this is his third petition seeking postconviction relief.
His direct appeal already traveled through Minnesota’s courts. The Court of Appeals affirmed his convictions in 2023, the Minnesota Supreme Court declined review, and the U.S. Supreme Court later declined to hear his case.
Freeing Chauvin Is More Complicated Than Musk Suggests
There is another major complication in Musk’s demand: Chauvin is not imprisoned solely under the Minnesota murder conviction.
He is serving a 22½-year state sentence, but he also pleaded guilty in federal court to violating Floyd’s civil rights and received a separate 21-year federal sentence. The sentences are being served concurrently.
That means even if Chauvin succeeds in overturning his Minnesota conviction, that result alone would not wipe away his federal conviction and sentence.
The distinction also matters politically.
As EURweb previously reported, conservatives mounted a campaign in 2025 urging President Donald Trump to pardon Chauvin. A president can pardon a federal offense but has no authority to erase a Minnesota state conviction.
Musk amplified discussion around that campaign. His new comments go considerably further: He is now explicitly saying Chauvin should be released.
George Floyd’s Death Returns to the Political Arena
Chauvin’s latest petition arrives more than six years after Floyd’s killing transformed the national debate over policing, race and use of force.
Musk’s intervention threatens to pull the case back into the political arena while a new legal challenge proceeds through the courts.
But there is an important line between challenging a conviction and declaring the underlying facts settled in Chauvin’s favor.
Chauvin has every right to pursue available appeals and postconviction remedies. His attorneys can challenge the prosecution, evidence and procedures used against him, and courts will decide whether those arguments have merit.
What Musk cannot change with a post is the existing legal record.
A Minnesota jury found Chauvin criminally responsible for Floyd’s death. The state appellate court upheld that verdict and specifically found sufficient evidence of causation. Chauvin also separately admitted in federal court that he violated Floyd’s civil rights.
Now Chauvin is asking the courts to reconsider his case once again.
Musk has already reached his own verdict.
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