China News Service, June 4 (Xinhua, China) reported that the US Attorney General of Minnesota Ellison announced on the 3rd local time that he has increased the charges against Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer. The third-level murder was upgraded to a second-level murder, and the other three former police officers involved were also charged.
On June 2, local time, Minnesota, United States, Freud’s family attended a press conference, and Freud’s daughter’s mother gave a speech about her death and wept.
Ellison said at a press conference: "First of all, today I submitted an amended complaint alleging that former Minneapolis police officer Derek Shavin was charged with second-degree murder for the murder of George Freud. I think The evidence we have now can support the more stringent second-degree murder charges." Second-degree murder is punishable by up to 40 years in prison.
Ellison announced that the three of them are now charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. "I firmly believe that these developments will bring justice to George Freud, his family, our community and our country."
He said he had issued arrest warrants to three former police officers.
But Ellison admitted that "successful prosecution" cannot save the "injury and loss" that many people suffered after George Freud's death. He added that the path of "building justice and fairness in our society" will be "Slow and arduous work."
According to reports, two separate autopsies of Freud determined that he died of homicide. After the incident, the Minneapolis Police Chief immediately dismissed four police officers, and Freud’s family and protesters across the United States demanded the arrest of these former police officers and demanded that Shavin be sentenced to first-degree murder.
Video on social media showed that Shavin put his knee against Freud's neck for nearly 9 minutes, ignoring his screaming "I can't breathe". He was previously charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The other three former police officers Thomas Lane, JA Keung and Tou Thao have not been arrested and prosecuted before.
According to the video and the criminal complaint, when Freud screamed that he couldn't breathe, Shavin still put his knee against his neck, and witnesses pointed out that he was dying, and even Lane asked him to turn to the side twice. The complaint also stated that after Freud began to lose consciousness, Savin still put his knee against his neck for nearly three minutes.