George Floyd

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously recommended a posthumous pardon for a 2004 drug arrest made by a now-indicted ex-Houston police officer whose case history is under scrutiny following a deadly drug raid.

Chauvin "treated Mr. Floyd without respect and denied him the dignity owed to all human beings," wrote Judge Peter Cahill, adding an additional 10 years to Chauvin's presumptive sentence.

Prosecutors were asking for the former police officer to be sentenced to a 30-year prison term. The defense attorney called for probation and time already served.

Negotiators on Capitol Hill continue to work on a police overhaul bill named after Floyd, which President Biden had hoped to sign by now.

Narrowly targeted pieces of Texas’ George Floyd Act — like restricting chokeholds and requiring officers to provide first aid — are expected to pass. But the Act itself and many other related reforms have failed to progress during the legislative session that ends Monday.

The five members of Harris County Commissioners Court unanimously approved the resolution in support of the pardon request, which was submitted last month to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. The board still must decide whether to recommend a pardon, and Gov. Greg Abbott will have the final say.

A federal grand jury has indicted the four former Minneapolis police officers involved in George Floyd’s arrest and death, accusing them of violating the Black man’s constitutional rights as he was restrained face-down on the pavement and gasping for air, according to indictments unsealed Friday.

A posthumous pardon request was submitted on Monday to Texas officials on behalf of George Floyd for a 2004 drug arrest that was done by a now indicted ex-Houston police officer whose case history is under scrutiny following a deadly drug raid.

“If this doesn’t push it, we don’t know what will,” says Debbie Bush. She has been fighting for greater accountability for police violence since her nephew was shot in the back by a San Antonio officer seven years ago.

Turner was fatally shot in 2019 by a police officer in the Houston suburb of Baytown, Texas, after a struggle over his stun gun. Attorney Ben Crump is also representing Turner’s family in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed April 8.

Across Houston — including the city’s historically Black Third Ward, where Floyd grew up — Derek Chauvin’s guilty verdict represented some measure of justice after a year of mourning.

Local advocates say the guilty verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial is only the beginning. They plan to continue to push for legislation, fundamental changes in policing and more accountability among law enforcement in North Texas and around the nation.