Billionaire Elon Musk Backs George Floyd's Killer, Stating Chauvin Was 'Unjustly Convicted of Murder'

Billionaire Elon Musk has backed former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, saying on X on Wednesday that Chauvin was 'unjustly convicted of murder' over the 2020 killing of George Floyd and should be released from prison. Musk also claimed the evidence showed Chauvin neither caused Floyd's death nor intended for anyone to die.

Chauvin was convicted in a Minnesota state court in 2021 of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter following Floyd's death. He later pleaded guilty to federal charges of violating Floyd's civil rights, leaving him with concurrent state and federal prison sentences.

Musk's intervention pushes him beyond his earlier public engagement with calls for clemency. This time, he was not merely floating the possibility of a pardon or asking questions about the case. He made his own position plain, 'He's No Murderer, Let Him Go!!!'

Billionaire Elon Musk Backs Chauvin More Directly

Musk wrote that Chauvin 'is not a murderer,' an assertion that directly challenges the findings reached by both a Minnesota jury and the federal criminal justice process.

His comments followed a previous campaign led by conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, who called on President Donald Trump to issue a federal pardon for Chauvin. Musk amplified that campaign last year, describing it as 'something to think about.'

That wording left some room for interpretation. His latest remarks did not.

The billionaire's view rests on his claim that Chauvin did not cause Floyd's death. However, Chauvin's state-court conviction was based on the prosecution's case that he caused Floyd's death while restraining him during an arrest in Minneapolis.

The jury returned guilty verdicts on all three counts in April 2021.

Chauvin later entered a guilty plea in the separate federal case, admitting that he violated Floyd's constitutional rights. The plea was distinct from the state murder prosecution, but it formed a second major legal finding against him.

There is no new court ruling described in the material provided that overturns, reduces or otherwise casts aside those convictions. Public arguments about a case can be loud, particularly when someone with Musk's reach joins in, but they do not alter the underlying judgments.

And that is the awkward bit in all of this. Musk's claim is forceful, while the legal record remains firmly in place.

Billionaire Elon Musk Backs a Pardon That Cannot Free Chauvin

A presidential pardon could apply only to Chauvin's federal conviction. It would not wipe out his Minnesota state convictions, meaning a pardon from Trump alone would not secure his release.

Chauvin is serving his state and federal terms concurrently. The information supplied places his projected release date in 2037, with parole eligibility expected around 2035.

That distinction is easy to lose amid the online noise. Calls for Trump to pardon Chauvin can suggest a single presidential decision would end the case, but the state sentence sits outside presidential authority.

Any route to overturning or revising the Minnesota conviction would have to move through the state legal system.

Musk did not set out a detailed legal argument in the remarks described, nor did he cite a specific court filing, medical record or new piece of evidence in support of his conclusion. His statement was instead a blunt public verdict on one of the most consequential criminal cases of recent years.

Floyd's death in May 2020 led to worldwide protests and renewed scrutiny of police use of force in the United States. Chauvin's prosecution became a defining test of whether an officer could be held criminally accountable for a death in custody.

Musk's latest post now reopens an argument that the courts have already addressed, though not necessarily settled in the court of public opinion. That space is often messier, more tribal and, frankly, a little mad.

IBTimes UK cannot independently verify Musk's claims from the material provided. No report indicates that Chauvin has been cleared, that a new appeal has succeeded, or that a federal pardon has been granted.

The former officer remains in prison, and the legal barriers to the freedom Musk is demanding are still there.