Derek Chauvin: Former Minneapolis police officer charged with George Floyd murder in court

The former Minneapolis police officer charged with second degree murder over the death of George Floyd has made his first appearance in the US.

The former Minneapolis police officer charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second degree manslaughter over the death of African-American man George Floyd has made his first court appearance.

It’s the first time Derek Chauvin, who appeared via video link in an orange prison jumpsuit and a blue surgical mask, has been seen since the killing more than two weeks ago.

The former officer’s bail was set at US$1.25 million (AU $1.78 million) which is the highest amount that can be set for the charges against him.

Chauvin, 44, was filmed pressing his knee into George Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes as Floyd repeatedly said “I can’t breathe” on May 25.

His death has sparked mass protests across the United States, in Europe and Australia over police brutality and racism, with protesters chanting “Black Lives Matter” and “I can’t breathe”.

Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, with a second-degree murder charge added later.

The three other officers involved – Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao – were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.

J. Alexander Kueng, Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao and Thomas Lane. Picture: Hennepin County Jail

Chauvin, who is a veteran police officer who served 19 years on the force, faces decades in jail if convicted of the murder.

In a procedural hearing that did not require Chauvin to submit a plea, the Hennepin County District Court judge set his bail at US $1 million with conditions, and US $1.25 million without conditions.

Meeting the conditions would require him to surrender his firearms, not work in law enforcement or security in any capacity, and have no contact with the family of Floyd.

Three other Minneapolis police officers appeared in court last week to face a charge of aiding and abetting Floyd’s murder for their roles in his arrest for allegedly passing a counterfeit $20 bill. All four officers have been fired.

The lawyer representing one of the other former officers involved in the killing, Thomas Lane, has denied his client “watched” the crime take place.

In an interview with CNN, Earl Gray, who is representing Lane, said his client had been kneeling on Floyd’s legs because he was initially resisting arrest.

“Now, when he’s holding his legs he says to Chauvin, ‘Well, should we roll him over? Because he says he can’t breathe. Chauvin says ‘no.’”

All three of the other officers involved have also had their bail set at US $1 million at an earlier court appearance.

In Minneapolis, the city council has vowed to dismantle police saying it was clear the 800-member agency was not working in the wake of Floyd’s death.

“It is clear that our system of policing is not keeping our communities safe,” City Council President Lisa Bender said Sunday.

“Our efforts at incremental reform have failed, period.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he doesn’t support the “full abolition” of the force, despite calls from some protesters to “defund the police” and reallocate finding to youth services, education and other sectors of the community.

Mayor Frey said that while he supported “structural reform to revise this structurally racist system” he was not for abolishing the department. Other US cities have already begun to embrace reforms — starting with bans on the use of tear gas and rubber bullets.

The state of Minnesota has also launched a civil rights investigation against police and banned chokeholds and neck restraints.

A police officer takes a knee during a 9 minute moment of silence in honour of George Floyd during a "Sit In Protest" at DeepWater Park in Pasadena, Texas. Picture: Mark Felix/AFP

The mass protests have taken place in more than 140 cities have been marred by some violence and looting, however in recent days have been largely peaceful.

Floyd’s death is not the first time the US has experienced outrage over the death of a black man at the hands of police.

In Ferguson, Missouri – where a white officer in 2014 fatally shot Michael Brown, a black 18-year-old – then-Attorney-General Eric Holder said federal authorities considered dismantling the police department. The city eventually reached an agreement short of that but one that required massive reforms.

Also in 2014, Staten Island grand jury cleared a New York police officer of criminal wrongdoing in the case of Eric Garner, an unarmed man who died in a chokehold.

Meanwhile an investigation is underway into the death of Breonna Taylor, 26, who was shot by police eight times when they broke into her apartment executing a “no knock” warrant two months ago.

– With wires