Body camera footage released showing Derek Chauvin's violent use of force in 2017 case
MINNEAPOLIS -- Never-before seen footage of convicted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was released on Thursday on the heels of a $9 million civil settlement over two violent use-of-force cases.
Body camera footage of the arrest of 14-year-old John Pope was kept under seal for the past six years while the lawsuit played out.
The clip shows Derek Chauvin taking down Pope and putting a knee on his neck. Chauvin then choked him and struck him with a flashlight, holding him in the prone position for 15 minutes, according to the lawsuit.
Derek Chavuin had gone to Pope's house in 2017 for a domestic assault call.
Pope's attorneys compiled and edited the footage, which was released on Thursday. His case was settled for $7.5 million.
RELATED: Minneapolis City Council settles 2 civil cases against Derek Chauvin for nearly $9 million
The city also settled a $1.375 million lawsuit with Zoya Code, who alleged that Chauvin used his knee on her neck and remained there for 4 minutes and 41 seconds during her arrest on June 25, 2017.
Another officer at the site failed to intervene; the incident was captured on police body cameras. At a press conference in 2022, images of the body camera footage was shared of her arrest.
City officials, including Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O'Hara, denounced Chauvin's actions on Thursday afternoon, calling his behavior a "cancer."
"More than another iteration of the hateful and violent legacy of this former employee, this is another exmple of the cancer that has plagued this agency," O'Hara said.
Chauvin is serving a prison sentence of over 20 years for murdering George Floyd in May of 2020. The City of Minneapolis settled with Floyd's family for a record $27 million in 2021.
