George Floyd killer cop Derek Chauvin shot three men and always got away despite ten complaints against him
The police officer who brutally choked George Floyd to death with his knee reportedly has a history of violent incidents.
Floyd's death following the arrest sparked nationwide outrage over police brutality and racial injustice after footage of a police officer kneeling on his neck for eight minutes made rounds of the internet on May 26.
Several activist groups branded it a "public lynching" and thousands of protesters clashed with the police in Minneapolis in the aftermath of the incident, Insider reported.
The four officers at the scene, including Derek Chauvin, who was caught on camera kneeling on Floyd's neck, were fired from the Minneapolis Police Department following Floyd's death. State authorities are working with the FBI to investigate the case, but it is unclear if the officers will be charged.
That said, this is barely the first time Chauvin was involved in a violent episode during his 19-year tenure with Minneapolis PD. According to police records, he was involved in a series of violent incidents before — including three police shootings — and has reportedly been the subject of ten complaints filed with the city's Civilian Review Authority and the Office of Police Conduct.
According to a 2016 report from the Minnesota activist group Communities United Against Police Brutality, Chauvin was among six officers to respond to a stabbing in 2006. The group of officers stopped Wayne Reyes, who was suspected of stabbing his girlfriend and a friend, in his truck. According to the report, the responding officers opened fire on Reyes and killed him after the suspect had allegedly pointed a shotgun at them.
According to the Pioneer Press, Chauvin responded to a 911 domestic assault call in the Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis two years later. Chauvin and his colleague entered the home of Ira Latrell Toles, whose partner had made the 911 call, just after 2 o'clock in the morning. According to a police statement, Toles ran from the pair but "they caught and tried to subdue him". However, Chauvin shot Toles in the torso after he allegedly "grabbed at one of the officer's guns".
Chauvin was awarded a medal for his valor earlier in 2008 after his response to an incident with an armed man, according to the outlet.
However, he was involved in a third police shooting in 2011.
Chauvin was one of five officers who responded to reports of a shooting. Local news reported at the time how 23-year-old Leroy Martinez, an Alaska native, was spotted running from the scene and the officers chased behind him. Terry Nutter, one of the responding officers, shot Martinez after he allegedly brandished a pistol as he fled, a subsequent police statement read.
But an eyewitness account reported by the Star Tribune disputed the police's claim that Martinez was armed when he was shot.
"He had no reason to shoot that little boy," eyewitness Delora Iceman told the outlet. According to her, Martinez had dropped the weapon and held his arms in the air but the police shot him nonetheless.
According to a CUAPB database, Chauvin has been the subject of several internal complaints during his nearly two-decade career with the Minneapolis PD.
The rogue officer was found to have used "demeaning tone," "derogatory language," and "language – other" in three separate reviews from the Civilian Review Authority.
Furthermore, he has also been the subject of seven reviews by the local Office of Police Conduct. Each review, however, concluded with "Closed – No discipline," per Insider.