The four former Minneapolis police officers who have been charged in connection with the death of George Floyd may now be able to tell their side of the story to the public.
A Minnesota judge lifted on Tuesday a gag order that was placed on the officers upon their arrest in response to opposition from their attorneys and a coalition of press organizations.
Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill, the judge who issued the gag order and now has removed it, feared that pretrial publicity could further taint the jury pool and make it difficult for either side to have an unbiased hearing. The attorneys for the officers argued that public officials, including Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, had already made statements that could taint the jury so their clients should be allowed to speak to the press.
The attorney for Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis officer who was filmed kneeling on Floyd’s neck for several minutes during the arrest, said that his client has been called a murderer by many public figures and pundits for months. The attorney argued that the court would struggle to find any publicity in Chauvin’s defense.
Leita Walker, an attorney for the news media coalition, argued that the press can only report the full story if it is allowed to talk to both sides.
“The media coalition’s view is that there’s a lot of stuff already out there, and the public is entitled to a complete picture … the media can only report a full story if it’s able to see everything and talk to both sides,” she said.
In lifting the gag order, Cahill said it had not been working because many people involved in the case had been trying to “tiptoe around the order” by speaking anonymously.
Chauvin was charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter. The three other officers involved, Tou Thao, Thomas Lane, and J. Kueng, were charged with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and manslaughter.
The trial for all four officers is set to take place in March 2021.
