Tim Walz vowed in 2025 to move Derek Chauvin to state prison if Trump pardoned him—now former cop has moved to overturn state charges

Tim Walz previously said that he would move Derek Chauvin from federal to state prison if President Donald Trump were to issue a pardon for Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted in the 2020 death of George Floyd. Although Trump previously said he was not moving to do so, Chauvin has now asked that the state overturn his conviction due to the lack of a grand jury.

"If he issues that pardon, we will simply transfer Derek Chauvin to serve out his 22 and a half years in state prison in Minnesota," Walz said when he was asked about the situation in 2025. However, if the state conviction is overturned in the state, a pardon from Trump would set him free. Chauvin was convicted on both state and federal charges related to the death of Floyd.

Chauvin's attorney is seeking the dismissal of the state charges against his client, alleging in a filing earlier this week that there was "fraudulent" and "unlawful" conduct from Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. The 31-page filing argues in part that Chauvin's due-process rights were violated because there was never a grand jury convened to review the state charges against him.

Earlier this week, Elon Musk, an ally to President Trump, posted, “Free Chauvin."

"Derek Chauvin was unjustly convicted of murder, therefore he should be freed. The facts show that he was not the cause of death, nor did he at any time intend for a death to occur. Whatever else he may be, he is not a murderer. That is the truth," Musk added in a separate post.

The case has been heavily scrutinized after Chauvin was convicted of murder for Floyd's death, even though Floyd had enough fentanyl in his system that would be considered a lethal dose and he was saying "I can't breathe" before he was placed on the ground.

Additionally, at least 50 former and current police officers from the Minneapolis Police Department have declared that the restraint that was used on Floyd was taught in the precinct, something that the MPD Chief of Police testified was not the case in the trial. Reporting from the officers suggests that the chief perjured herself during her court testimony.

Hennepin County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Baker also found in his first examination that there was "no medical evidence on May 26th supporting the conclusion that Floyd died of asphyxiation."