Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was convicted for the murder of George Floyd, has been named in two new civil lawsuits alleging excessive force.
Per a report from Reuters, the two lawsuits were filed against Chauvin and others on behalf of John Pope and Zoya Code, who point to separate incidents from 2017 as showing the use of “many of the same tactics” at the center of Floyd’s murder. Also named in the newly announced suits are seven other Minneapolis Police Department officers, as well as the City of Minneapolis.
“It is simply reprehensible that three years before Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd, he used the same and other deadly tactics on John and Zoya, unchecked and undisciplined by his fellow officers and MPD supervisors,” Pope and Code’s attorney, Bob Bennett, said in a press release this week. “We will not stop seeking justice for the victims of serial predator Derek Chauvin and those MPD officers who failed to intervene, and will hold accountable all those in power who allowed and enabled this type of deadly, racist behavior to continue.”
Pope was 14 when Chauvin allegedly entered his bedroom during a domestic disturbance call, with Chauvin said to have “rushed Pope and struck him multiple times on the head with a large flashlight.” Chauvin is also alleged to have pinned Pope to the ground using his knee. Other responding officers did not intervene.
In a separate incident, Chauvin is accused of using excessive force on Code while she was in handcuffs, including having allegedly slammed her head on the ground and pinned her using his knee. Both incidents have been revealed to have been captured in body camera footage.
In June of last year, Chauvin was sentenced to 22 and a half years behind bars in Floyd’s murder. In December, he also pleaded guilty in federal court to depriving Floyd of his constitutional rights and causing “bodily injury and death.”
