George Floyd gets a posthumous pardon for drug conviction in 2004

George Floyd, the black American who died last year after a cop pushed a knee to his neck for minutes, is believed to be posthumously pardoned for a 2004 conviction. Floyd was jailed for 10 months in 2004 for selling $10 worth of crack .

The officer who arrested him at the time, Gerald Goines, has been charged with murder. He led a drug operation in 2019 that killed a couple. Police had raided their home following a tip, but no drugs were found. Goines then made a false statement.

Over the past two years, Goines’ past and 160 drug cases involving him have been investigated. “It turned out that he was mainly concerned with the number of arrests, not so much with justice,” says a lawyer who represents victims of Goines. It has not been disclosed what exactly he did wrong when Floyd was arrested in 2004.

A Texas council that decides on pardons has unanimously agreed in the Floyd case; all seven members voted in favour. The Texas governor must now officially approve the decision.

More often convicted

Between 1997 and 2005, Floyd was arrested several times on suspicion of drug possession and theft, and spent months in prison.

In August 2007, he was charged with theft with a deadly weapon. Investigators said he and five other men broke into a woman’s apartment and Floyd pushed a gun into her abdomen before searching for items to steal.

Floyd pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison in 2009. He was released on parole in January 2013.

Knee clamp, officer convicted

George Floyd passed away last year. A video showed Officer Derek Chauvin pressing his knee on the neck of Floyd, who was suspected of paying with a counterfeit $20 bill for 9.5 minutes. Floyd repeatedly indicated that he couldn’t breathe. Even when he stopped moving, Chauvin kept his knee on his neck.

Chauvin got in June 22.5 years in prison imposed. He has appealed; according to him, several mistakes were made during his trial. For example, one of the jury members would not have been objective, because he had participated in a demonstration against racism.

After George Floyd’s death, people all over the United States took to the streets to protest, with the slogan Black Lives Matter. There were also demonstrations against institutional racism in other countries, including the Netherlands.

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