(CNN) – Derek Chauvin worked for the Minneapolis Police Department for over 18 years. Then, on May 25, 2020, he was admitted kneeling around George Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes before his death.
Chauvin was fired by Minneapolis police, and a jury found him guilty of Floyd’s murder Tuesday.
Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis cop, charged with the death of George Floyd.
He had 18 previous complaints against him
Before Chauvin knelt around Floyd’s neck, 18 complaints had been filed against him with the Minneapolis Police Department’s Office of Internal Affairs.
Police confirmed the complaints were filed but did not explain why they were filed or what implications they had.
According to a public summary of the Minneapolis Police Department’s Home Office (MPD), only two of the 18 complaints were “handled with discipline.” In both cases, Chauvin was reprimanded.
According to Communities Against Police Brutality, a Minnesota nonprofit that created a database of complaints against officers in the state, Chauvin was verbally reprimanded for using “demeaning tone,” “derogatory language,” and other language he deserved. Discipline.
Neither the nonprofit database nor the Minneapolis Internal Affairs Police Department’s public summary contains dates or descriptions of the cause of the complaints.
Former agent Tou Thao, who was also involved in Floyd’s arrest, had six complaints to the Home Office, one of which was still open, according to the summary. The other five were closed without discipline.
According to a public summary from MPD Internal Affairs, the other two former officers, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, had no complaints.
Chauvin and George Floyd worked as security guards in the same nightclub
Both men worked as security at the El Nuevo Rodeo club in Minneapolis’s third ward, former club owner Maya Santamaría told CNN.
Floyd worked as an extra security guard for a few Tuesdays. Chauvin worked as an off-duty police officer for the club for nearly 17 years, Santamaría said.
“I wouldn’t describe them as if they knew each other,” Santamaría told CNN’s Josh Campbell in an interview.
But, he added, “we all work together on certain nights and they would have crossed each other.”
Santamaría said he couldn’t believe what he saw when he saw images of the two former employees, one under arrest and the other face down, on the sidewalk.
I kept yelling at my phone and told Chauvin to get off. It’s terrible. It’s definitely more than words, ”he said. And after meeting Chauvin, I can’t believe I didn’t have the humanity to listen to this poor man begging for air and his life.
Your wife has filed a request to dissolve your marriage
The day after Chauvin’s arrest, a lawyer for his wife Kellie filed a petition for the marriage to be dissolved.
Tonight I spoke with Kellie Chauvin and her family. She was devastated by the death of Mr. Floyd, and her greatest sympathy rests with his family, with his loved ones, and with all who suffer this tragedy. She has requested the dissolution of her marriage to Derek Chauvin, ”said a statement from the Sekula Law Office.
“Although Ms. Chauvin has no children from her current marriage, she respectfully asks that her children, older parents and extended family be given security and privacy during this difficult time.”
– Dakin Andone, Hollie Silverman, Melissa Alonso and Alaa Elassar from CNN contributed to this report.