(LifeSiteNews) — Elon Musk called for the release of Derek Chauvin — the police officer jailed for the 2020 death of George Floyd — after Chauvin’s attorney filed a petition asserting that his client was denied due process by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison.
Musk’s post on X quickly went viral, garnering over 10 million views and 220,000 likes in less than 20 hours.
“Derek Chauvin was unjustly convicted of murder, therefore he should be freed,” Musk wrote.
“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,” Musk said. “That is the truth.”
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.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 19, 2026
Greg Joseph, Chauvin’s attorney, argued in the 31-page petition that along with violating rights to due process the charges Chauvin faced were “unsupported by probable cause.”
Joseph further stated that Walz’s reassignment of the case to Ellison was “unlawful” and that the failure of the Hennepin County District Court to convene a grand jury violated state and federal rules and laws.
Leftist media and politicians seized upon the death of George Floyd and accused Chauvin of police brutality.
A video of Chauvin arresting Floyd was widely circulated, triggering the instant rise of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and sparking violent, destructive riots across the nation.
On May 25, 2020, Floyd died while in police custody. He had just been arrested under suspicion of using counterfeit money and, while lying face down on the ground with officers securing him with handcuffs, Floyd repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe.” This became the widely circulated “evidence” that he was strangled by Chauvin, whose knee can be seen held behind Floyd’s neck for nearly 10 minutes in bodycam footage.
The nation quite literally went up in flames as violent protests erupted across the country, demanding Chauvin be put behind bars and, in the case of BLM activists, a complete defunding of police. Since the time of the trial and verdict, questions have been raised as to whether Chauvin was doomed to jail from the start due to political pressures.