Derek Chauvin convicted of murdering George Floyd (2021)
On April 20, 2021, a Minnesota jury convicted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd, who died after Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes. It was the first time in Minnesota history that a white police officer was convicted of murdering a Black civilian.
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On April 20, 2021, a Minnesota jury convicted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd, who died after Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes. It was the first time in Minnesota history that a white police officer was convicted of murdering a Black civilian. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison led the state prosecution; Chauvin was later sentenced to 22.5 years.
Who was responsible
Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.
No public contributors are listed for this fact.
What changed
Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.
- FactDerek Chauvin convicted of murdering George Floyd (2021)
- strengthensDriverSupranational rule-of-law accountability pressure
- strengthensIndicators (5)Judicial constraints on the executive (V-Dem, global country mean)
impact weight 0.4 · Effect from 20 April 2021 · verified
The conviction demonstrated the justice system holding state actors accountable; mapped to the accountability-pressure driver as a domestic analogue, since no purely domestic-accountability driver is available.
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.22 (weight 0.4 × strength 0.55)
Observed
0.57 index score (0-1) · 0.23 below the normal line (2024)
Worse than normal125 readings, 1900–2024: rose from 0.5 index score (0-1) to 0.57 index score (0-1).
Above normal = better
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.19 (weight 0.4 × strength 0.47)
Observed
0.62 score from 0 to 1 · 0.25 below the normal line (2024)
Worse than normal125 readings, 1900–2024: rose from 0.37 score from 0 to 1 to 0.62 score from 0 to 1.
Above normal = better
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.18 (weight 0.4 × strength 0.45)
Observed
0.55 index score (0-1) · 0.26 below the normal line (2024)
Worse than normalAbove normal = better
All indicators on this path (5)
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.13 (weight 0.4 × strength 0.33)
Observed
56.1 Score · 13.7 below the normal line (2024)
Worse than normal26 readings, 1996–2024: fell from 57 Score to 56.1 Score.
Above normal = better
- Better
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.1 (weight 0.4 × strength 0.25)
Observed
42.5 index score (0-100) · 7.53 below the normal line (2025)
Worse than normalAbove normal = better
Causal path
How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.
- FactDerek Chauvin convicted of murdering George Floyd (2021)
- strengthensDriverSupranational rule-of-law accountability pressure
- strengthensIndicatorJudicial constraints on the executive (V-Dem, global country mean)
Cite this page
Factrail. (2026). Derek Chauvin convicted of murdering George Floyd (2021). Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/justice-fact-chauvin-state-conviction-2021
https://factrail.ai/facts/justice-fact-chauvin-state-conviction-2021
Accessed 16 October 2026.
By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed
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