The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2160 - The Case For Derek Chauvin | Episode 1: The Background
Tue, 18 Mar 2025
We dive into the case for pardoning Derek Chauvin by exploring his police record and George Floyd’s criminal record. Donate to Derek Chauvin's Legal Defense Fund Here: https://bit.ly/41CGNtg Click here to join the member-exclusive portion of my show: https://bit.ly/3WDjgHE Ep.2160 - - - Facts Don’t Care About Your Feelings - - - DailyWire+: We’re leading the charge again and launching a full-scale push for justice. Go to https://PardonDerek.com right now and sign the petition. Now is the time to join the fight. Watch the hit movies, documentaries, and series reshaping our culture. Go to https://dailywire.com/subscribe today. Get your Ben Shapiro merch here: https://bit.ly/3TAu2cw - - - Today's Sponsors: PureTalk - Switch to PureTalk and start saving today! Visit https://PureTalk.com/SHAPIRO Grand Canyon University - Find your purpose at Grand Canyon University. Visit https://gcu.edu today. - - - Socials: Follow on Twitter: https://bit.ly/3cXUn53 Follow on Instagram: https://bit.ly/3QtuibJ Follow on Facebook: https://bit.ly/3TTirqd Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3RPyBiB
Chapter 1: What is the purpose of the series on Derek Chauvin's case?
What if everything you were told about the trial of Derek Chauvin was a lie? Today, we're launching one of the most important multi-part series we've ever produced at this company. We're examining the terrible miscarriage of justice that took place in the case of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. This will be a comprehensive multi-episode breakdown of the case.
All the facts, all the evidence, all the political context. We're going to tear this case apart piece by piece. By the end, I think you'll agree with me that President Trump should immediately pardon Derek Chauvin for his federal convictions. New episodes of this series will be dropping every Tuesday and Thursday.
Watch them, share them, join the discussion with Daily Wire members and Ben Shapiro Show producers inside the Daily Wire Plus app. The truth matters and justice matters, and you're not going to hear this anywhere else. This is The Case for Derek Chauvin, Episode 1, The Background.
Like everyone else in America, I first saw the tape of Derek Chauvin and George Floyd on May 25th, what appeared at the time to be nine minutes of a police officer's knee on George Floyd's neck. Given the tape alone, I drew the same conclusions most Americans drew. I tweeted that the police officer's behavior was abhorrent. I called for his prosecution.
I stated that nobody is defending the actions we all witnessed. So it's not as though I was initially a believer in Derek Chauvin's innocence. And then over time, new evidence emerged, a lot of new evidence. And I realized I had done something absolutely wrong. I had rushed to judgment.
As new information was released, the full body camera footage, the complete autopsy findings, the Minneapolis Police Department training materials, my viewpoint changed and it changed dramatically. But for most Americans, their only opinion on the case was formed in the hours after the original tape broke. They didn't know about the new evidence or they didn't care.
The legacy media were deeply complicit in this. They didn't cover the details of the autopsy, the details of the complete body camera footage, the defense presentation at trial. They let that original impression sit in the minds of the American people forever. for years, and they did that for a reason.
They had a predetermined narrative of the race-based guilt of Derek Chauvin, and according to the left, of white people everywhere. Taking stock of these larger forces at play helps to make sense of the bias that continues to this day. The George Floyd narrative was set. A racist white police officer murdered a black man in cold blood, case closed. Evidence to the contrary, irrelevant.
MPD, training protocols, dismissed. Toxicology report, ignored. Medical examiner's findings about contributing factors, conspiracy theories. Consider, for example, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, who last week dismissed my call to revisit the Chauvin trial by declaring on his show that he, quote, doesn't care about the autopsy, effectively admitting he doesn't care about the facts or the truth.
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Chapter 2: Why did Ben Shapiro change his opinion on Derek Chauvin's case?
The third precinct, where Chauvin worked, had dramatically higher complaint rates than other precincts in Minneapolis. It's critical to understand that increase was not due to worsening officer behavior, but rather to changes in the complaint filing process that made it significantly easier for citizens to report perceived misconduct. Further context comes from understanding disciplinary outcomes.
Only about 1.5% of complaints filed against Minneapolis police resulted in suspensions, terminations, or demotions between 2013 and 2019. When including letters of reprimand, that rate rises to just 2.6%. This means the overwhelming majority of complaints were found by the Minneapolis Police Department to be specious.
When we consider all these statistical factors, a department with a civilian review board with 80% more complaints, working in the highest complaint precincts in the city, with an exceptionally low rate of disciplinary findings, a statistically realistic benchmark for an officer in Chauvin's position over 19 years...
should probably be significantly higher than the national average of 1.8 complaints. Yet the media continues to utilize that last number to distort the national view of Derek Chauvin. So let's go through the complaints chronologically so you can see exactly what we're dealing with here. In 2006, Chauvin was one of six officers who responded to a stabbing.
A suspect named Wayne Reyes, who had allegedly stabbed his girlfriend and a friend, was shot dead when he pointed a shotgun at officers from his truck. This wasn't an unarmed suspect gunned down in cold blood. This was an armed, dangerous suspect who had already violently attacked two people and was threatening to kill police officers with a shotgun.
All the officers, including Chauvin, were put on paid leave during the investigation. That's standard protocol. And of course, they were then cleared because they acted appropriately in the face of a deadly threat. In fact, Chauvin later got a Medal of Valor for his response in this incident. The media conveniently admits that Chauvin was commended for this incident.
They prefer to count it as a complaint without providing the context that would show that he was doing exactly what police officers are actually supposed to do, protect the public from violent criminals. That same year, in 2006, Chauvin and seven other officers were named in a federal lawsuit filed by an inmate at the Minnesota Correctional Facility.
This is the type of frivolous lawsuit that gets filed against police officers all the time. How serious was it? The case was dismissed the following year. The media still counts that as a complaint against Chauvin. Now, the fact the lawsuit was dismissed tells you everything you need to know about its validity. That doesn't stop the media from including it in that running tally of complaints.
In 2007, Chauvin received one of his only formal disciplinary actions for a traffic stop involving a female driver from Minneapolis who was allegedly going 10 miles an hour over the speed limit.
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Chapter 3: What role did media play in shaping public perception of the Chauvin trial?
Of the incidents where the race of the individual is mentioned, we have complainants who are white, black, Latino, Native American. There is no pattern suggesting Chauvin targeted people of color. He was an equal opportunity enforcer of the law who operated in a diverse high crime area.
The left would love you to believe these complaints prove Chauvin was sort of a ticking time bomb which should have been removed from the force years ago. When you actually examine the details, what emerges is a portrait of an officer doing a difficult job in challenging circumstances operating within departmental guidelines.
Now, the left would rather you not know these details because they contradict the narrative that Chauvin was a racist monster who deliberately murdered George Floyd out of some sort of racial animus. But facts don't care about their feelings. The facts show Chauvin's record was typical for a veteran officer working in a high-crime urban environment.
Chauvin's then-wife, Kelly Chauvin, a Hmong American who won the Mrs. Minnesota pageant, described him in a 2018 profile as such a gentleman and just a softie beneath his uniform. Derek's marriage was further collateral damage in the wreckage following Floyd's death and his own conviction.
After revealing she hasn't been able to find work or resume her career as a realtor because of threats and her own fear of exposure over the case, experiencing vandalization of both the Chauvin's homes in Minnesota and Florida, and facing significant online harassment, receiving hateful online remarks, with some labeling her a self-hating Asian, making derogatory comments about her interracial marriage.
She ultimately ended up filing for divorce just one day after Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder, also requesting to change her last name. Now let's discuss the other side of the coin, the alleged victim, George Floyd. George Floyd was born on October 14th, 1973 in Fayetteville, North Carolina to George Perry and Larsonia Sissy Jones Floyd.
When Floyd was two years old, his mom moved with Floyd and his four siblings to Houston, Texas after his parents separated. The family settled in the historically black neighborhood of Houston's Third Ward in the CUNY Homes public housing complex.
To understand George Floyd's background, you really need to understand the reality of CUNY Homes, the public housing complex where Floyd spent his formative years. This wasn't some idyllic community with a few challenges. This was Houston's oldest public housing development, a crime-ridden environment that residents themselves describe as horrible and like a hellhole.
The statistics are staggering. Eight homicides in just the last 12 months, a four-year homicide rate of nearly 62 per 100,000 residents, and approximately 25 homicides in the vicinity over just four years. Gang activity is so prevalent, residents report being approached by gang members warning them to go inside because they're about to start shooting.
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