National

A Michigan judge ruled Monday that ex-police officer Christopher Schurr must stand trial for shooting and killing an unarmed Black man during an April traffic stop.

Driving the news: Judge Nicholas S. Ayoub said there is probable cause to try Schurr for second-degree murder in the death of Patrick Lyoya, who was 26. His killing — and footage that showed Schurr lying on Lyoya's back before shooting him in the head — led to protests in Grand Rapids.

What they're saying: "There is little doubt that [Lyoya's] death was caused by the gunshot wound to the head inflicted by defendant," Ayoub said in an opinion that was read in court.

"The clear depiction of the incident in the video strongly infers that defendant knew he was pointing the gun and firing it at close range to [Lyoya's] head, which, in turn, is sufficient to establish probable cause to conclude that defendant acted with malice."

"The only real debatable question here is whether defendant’s actions were justified under the law," Ayoub noted.

"This decision is the next step in our pursuit for obtaining FULL and complete justice for Patrick Lyoya," attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Lyoya's family, tweeted after the ruling. 

"We will continue to fight to ensure former Ofc. Schurr and the City of Grand Rapids are held accountable for his actions."

Go deeper: Videos show Michigan police officer fatally shooting Black man

Ex-officer who killed unarmed Black man to stand trial for murder

Footage shows the former police officer lying on Patrick Lyoya's back before shooting him in the head.

Photo of a protester holding a sign that says "Justice 4 Patrick"

Supporters and family members of Patrick Lyoya participate in a rally in front of the Michigan state capital building on April 21, 2022 in Lansing, Michigan. Photo: Scott Olson via Getty Images

Police

Black Lives Matter movement

President Biden has made the COVID-19 crisis and a post-Trump return to national unity and traditional democratic ideals his top priorities. From vaccinations to stimulus to schools, Biden is seeking bipartisan compromise while showing a willingness to use executive authority and bare Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate to implement his policies. Republican leaders are navigating deep party divisions over if and how to move beyond former President Trump.

Politics & Policy

An amended autopsy report made public Friday has changed the cause of death for Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man who died after police officers put him in a chokehold in 2019, from "undetermined" to complications from administration of the sedative ketamine after forcible restraint.

The big picture: Nationwide protests against police brutality in 2020 renewed attention on McClain's death. Though the Aurora, Colorado police department found no policy violations in an earlier investigation, an independent probe concluded that officers had no legal basis to stop, frisk or use a chokehold on McClain.

Catch up quick: Three police officers responding to a call about a suspicious person stopped and restrained McClain, who was walking home from a convenience store on Aug. 24, 2019.

The officers put him in a chokehold, and paramedics administered 500 milligrams of ketamine.

But limited video and audio from body worn cameras "reveal Mr. McClain surrounded by officers, all larger than he, crying out in pain, apologizing, explaining himself, and pleading with the officers," according to the independent investigation.

McClain, who was a massage therapist, suffered cardiac arrest and was eventually declared brain dead and taken off life support. The original autopsy report, signed Nov. 7, 2019, stated that the cause and manner of death were "undetermined." 

What he's saying: Stephen Cina, who performs autopsies for Adams County, wrote in the amended report that he has changed the cause of death after gaining access to new information, including extensive body camera footage, witness statements and additional records.

When he performed the original autopsy in 2019, he requested the materials but didn't receive them in full, he said. New evidence was presented through a statewide grand jury investigation, leading Cina to file the amended report on July 1, 2021.

"Simply put, this dosage of ketamine was too much for this individual and it resulted in an overdose … I believe that Mr. McClain would most likely be alive but for the administration of ketamine."

He added, however, that he has "seen no evidence that injuries inflicted by the police contributed to death."

McClain's manner of death remains "undetermined."

Driving the news: The amended report was made public Friday after a judge ordered the Adams County Coroner to release a copy. News organizations sued for the report after the county coroner denied CPR News' public records request.

The big picture: The Colorado grand jury returned a 32-count indictment after its investigation, charging each of the three officers and two paramedics with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.

The indictment noted that an unnamed forensic pathologist "opined that the cause of death for Mr. McClain was complications following acute ketamine administration during violent subdual and restraint by law enforcement and emergency response personnel, and the manner of death was homicide."

One of the officers, Jason Rosenblatt, was later fired for his involvement in a photo re-enacting the chokehold used on McClain, CBS News reports.

Officers Nathan Woodyard and Randy Roedema and paramedics Peter Cichuniec and Jeremy Cooper are currently on unpaid leave, per CPR News.

Worth noting: McClain's family has sued the police department and paramedics in federal court. 

What's next: Their arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 4.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional reporting.

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Amended autopsy: Elijah McClain died from sedative after forcible restraint

"Simply put, this dosage of ketamine was too much for this individual and it resulted in an overdose," the report said.

Photo of a person's hand held to her chest as she wears a T-shirt with Elijah McClain's picture on it

Sheneen McClain stands at the site where her son Elijah was killed in Aurora, Colorado, two years after his death on Aug. 18, 2021. Photo: AAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Black Lives Matter

Homicides in major U.S. cities are dropping in 2022, but total violent crime continues to rise, according to a midyear survey of large law enforcement agencies. 

Why it matters: The annual midyear survey shows that violent crime rates still haven't returned to pre-pandemic levels, but homicides and rapes in some cities appear to be falling.

By the numbers: Overall violent crime spiked 4.2% from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2022, compared to the same period as last year, the survey by the Major Cities Chiefs Association found. 

Robbery skyrocketed by nearly 12% and aggravated assaults increased by around 3%, the survey of 70 agencies found.

Homicides decreased by 2.4% and rapes fell by 5% in major cities, offering hope that some of the most violent crimes might be leveling off from significant increases in 2020, as reported to the FBI. 

Yes, but: Compared to 2019 midyear figures, the same cities in total have experienced a 50% increase in homicides and a roughly 36% increase in aggravated assaults. 

And not all cities are experiencing declines in homicides. So far this year, Atlanta has seen a whopping 20% jump in homicides, while New Orleans has experienced a nearly 40% spike.

Baltimore, Dallas, Phoenix, and Denver also have seen jumps in homicides this year, while Albuquerque, Houston, Detroit, and Miami are experiencing declines.

What they're saying: "The socio-economic issues associated with the pandemic...it's leading to a lot of incidents on the street where we're seeing these spontaneous assaults," Robert Arcos, chief of the Bureau of Investigation in the Office of the Los Angeles County District Attorney, told Axios.

Arcos said cities that aggressively tackle homelessness, addiction, and mental health might see drops in some crime, but homicides are hard to predict. 

"We still don't have enough officers, and we have shortages everywhere," National Association of Chiefs of Police senior vice president Brian C. Smith told Axios.

Zoom out: The annual midyear Violent Crime Survey by the Major Cities Chiefs Association isn't official crime data, but it's used to gauge crime trends ahead of the release of the FBI Uniform Crime Report that comes out in October. 

The FBI's annual data set is the country's foremost way to understand how crime across the U.S. is changing, measuring things like how many murders or rapes took place last year or how many people were arrested.

Between the lines: Crime is the one issue where Republicans consistently outperform Democrats in generic polls ahead of the midterms, and rising crime may offer a lifeline to the GOP in close races where abortion is driving a shift to Democrats.

Maryland's Republican Gov. Larry Hogan is using his final weeks in office to launch a new "tough on crime" offensive to chart a political future as a mainstream alternative to former President Trump.

Meanwhile, Democrats in states like Ohio, Georgia, and Florida are spotlighting law enforcement to boost their credibility in fighting crime.

Don't forget: Nearly 40% of law enforcement agencies nationwide, including the New York City Police Department and Los Angeles Police Department, failed to report their 2021 crime data to the FBI, according to data provided to Axios Local from a partnership with The Marshall Project.

Survey: Homicides down midyear as overall violent crime jumps

A Citi Bike sits at the scene of a shooting with yellow tape in Manhattan as a officer looks.

A Citi Bike sits at the scene of a shooting in New York City. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Crime

Policymaking

Two years after Black Lives Matter protests swept across the country, Black Americans surveyed see little improvement in their lives, according to a new poll published Tuesday by the Pew Research Center.

Driving the news: Black Americans have a clear vision for how to achieve equality — including supporting Black businesses and institutional changes — but remain skeptical that the U.S. will get there.

State of play: 64% of Black Americans polled say the increased focus on issues of race and racial inequality has not led to changes that improve Black people's lives. 

Black people (31%) are less likely than Americans overall (40%) to say that the increased focus has led to marked improvements.

When asked the same question in 2020, 56% of Black Americans polled said it would lead to improvements for Black people.

The majority of Black adults say racism and police brutality are "extremely big" problems for Black people in the U.S. today. Economic inequality, the affordability of health care and efforts to limit voting ranked third through fifth.

79% say they have personally experienced discrimination or been treated unfairly because of their race or ethnicity. Nearly 7 in 10 say discrimination is the main reason Black people can't get ahead.

About 9 in 10 Black Americans believe multiple aspects of the criminal justice system need some kind of change to ensure fair treatment — nearly all say this about policing (95%), the courts and judicial process (95%), and the prison system (94%). 

A large majority (77%) also think descendants of enslaved people should be repaid in some way, a view that's shared across party lines. 

Yes, but: Only 13% say equality for Black people is extremely or very likely.

The intrigue: Black Democrats are more likely to support systemic changes while Black Republicans are more likely to support individualistic changes, but they share similar views on police funding.

Only 24% of Black Democrats and 21% of Black Republicans say funding for police departments in their communities should decrease.

Worth noting: Black adults under 30 are among the least likely to believe voting is an extremely or very effective path toward equality in the U.S. 

What they're saying: "On the one hand, Black Americans have very clear ideas in terms of what pathways for equality would look like for them; they show support for specific approaches," Kiana Cox, a Pew research associate, told Axios.

"On the flip side of that, they're very skeptical that they'll see any of those changes happen."

Cox noted that what stood out to her "was the clarity with which Black adults say, 'Yes, we support reparations. Yes, we think that these institutions should not only have major changes but that they can be completely rebuilt.'"

Yet "no more than 20% of Black adults said that any of these institutional changes would happen," Cox added. 

The big picture: After centuries of oppression, racial disparities remain the norm in America.

The homeownership gap between Black and white Americans is worse today than decades ago when race-based housing laws and policies were in place.

Black Americans are more likely to get federal life sentences than whites or Latinos, an analysis published in Criminology found.

A November report from the Commonwealth Fund found that in almost every state, Black Americans were more likely than white Americans to die from preventable and treatable health conditions.

The Black Lives Matter movement continues to put a spotlight on these issues — with a reach around the globe.

Go deeper: America's reckoning on race highlights the slow wheels of justice

Methodology: This poll was conducted Oct. 4-17, 2021 via an online survey of 3,912 Black U.S. adults. Black U.S. adults include those who are single-race, non-Hispanic Black Americans; multiracial non-Hispanic Black Americans; and adults who indicate they are Black and Hispanic. Respondents were recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. 

Poll: Black Americans harbor little hope for change despite clear vision for equality

About 9 in 10 believe multiple aspects of the criminal justice system need some kind of change to ensure fair treatment.

Photo of two Black protesters raising their fists in the air as one holds a sign that says "This is not a moment. It's the movement."

Protesters gather for s peaceful rally and march in support of Black Lives Matter movement at Washington Square Park in New York City on June 6, 2020. Photo: Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

Former Louisville Metro police officer Kelly Goodlett on Tuesday pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy related to the killing of Breonna Taylor, admitting that she helped falsify a search warrant and filed a false report after Taylor's death as part of a cover-up attempt.

Driving the news: It's the first conviction in a case that ignited protests across the country over police brutality and racial justice.

Goodlett faces up to five years in prison, a fine of $ 250,000 and a three-year term of supervised release.  

Catch up quick: The DOJ said Louisville police officers broke into Taylor's home in a March 2020 raid with a falsified "no-knock" search warrant for a drug investigation.

The Kentucky attorney general said they knocked and announced their presence, but her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, and some neighbors said they didn't hear anything of the sort. Walker has said he thought the officers were intruders.

Officers used a police battering ram to break down her door even though she was not the main suspect and shot Taylor at least eight times after Walker fired his gun.

Taylor was alive for at least 20 minutes after officers shot her and did not receive medical attention even though she showed signs of life, according to Walker and police dispatch logs.

Why it matters: In the announcement of Goodlett's guilty plea, the DOJ said Goodlett "admitted that all of the information in the warrant affidavit justifying a no-knock entry for Taylor’s home was false as it related to Taylor." 

Goodlett was "not aware of any valid reason" to seek the no-knock warrant that led to Taylor's killing.

The big picture: The three other officers who face federal charges — Sgt. Kyle Meany, former detective Joshua Jaynes and former detective Brett Hankison — have pleaded not guilty. 

Hankinson, who shot multiple rounds into Taylor's apartment, was acquitted of wanton endangerment in March. He was the only officer who faced state charges.

The DOJ has charged Hankinson with violating the civil rights of Taylor, Walker and their neighbors for firing multiple shots through a bedroom window and a sliding-glass door.

Jaynes and Meany are also accused of falsifying the search warrant affidavit that led to the raid. 

Goodlett's testimony could prove crucial as prosecutors pursue cases against the other three. She resigned from the police force after the DOJ unveiled the charges in March.

Ex-Louisville officer pleads guilty to conspiracy in Breonna Taylor killing

It's the first conviction in a case that ignited protests across the country over police brutality and racial justice.

A photo of Breonna Taylor is included among photos of other women who have lost their lives as a result of violence during the second annual Defend Black Women March on July 30 in Washington, D.C. Photo: Leigh Vogel via Getty Images for Frontline Action Hub

A civil rights organization has filed a lawsuit against officials in Lexington, Mississippi, calling for a federal investigation of police brutality on behalf of local Black residents after a white police chief’s racist remarks led to backlash in the town of 1,800 — about 80% of whom are Black.

Why it matters: Former police chief Sam Dobbins was recorded bragging about having shot and killed 13 people in the line of duty while using the n-word repeatedly. The city’s Board of Aldermen fired him in a 3-2 vote, but the lawsuit alleges it’s a pattern of "systemic, condoned racism" in the police and the larger municipal government.

Context: In the recording, Dobbins is heard saying, "I’ve killed 13 men in my career, justified."

While describing a shootout in a cornfield, he allegedly says, "I shot that n----- 119 times, OK?" He also uses anti-LGBTQ slurs at one point in the conversation, according to the audio.

Dobbins has denied using the slurs and claimed that killing people in the line of duty is "something we don’t discuss, period," per the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting.

Driving the news: The lawsuit, filed by Julian, asks a federal district court to issue a temporary restraining order against the Lexington Police Department (LPD) and bar officers from "threatening, coercing, harassing, assaulting or interfering" with Lexington citizens’ constitutional rights.

What they're saying: The recording of Dobbins "establishes LPD's discriminatory intent" and proves that "by pattern, practice, and custom/policy he and thereby LPD encouraged officers to treat people brutally" based on race and sexual orientation, the complaint alleges.

"Over 200 Black citizens have formally or informally complained about being harassed, arrested, or fined for baseless reasons in the past year," including a 21-year-old Black man who was allegedly arrested on a traffic violation while he was shopping inside a convenience store, according to the complaint.

Some officers have reported "seeing other officers pull civilians from the backs of patrol cars and brutally beat them," the complaint states.

In one incident, interim police chief Charles Henderson allegedly "broke down a woman's door without a warrant, maced her, arrested her for no reason without Mirandizing her, and hosed her down from head to toe with a fire hose." 

Henderson has also propositioned women for sex and ticketed or arrested them when they refused, the complaint claims.

Tasha Walden, who had lived in Lexington for more than 40 years, said she moved her family to Tennessee after Dobbins began regularly targeting her son, now 21, across town. Dobbins would issue fines for no reason, arrest him without warrants and harass him on the streets, even outside city limits where he had no jurisdiction, Walden told Axios.

“He would literally just terrorize people,” and Black people especially, she said, and added that she hopes to see Dobbins in jail. 

“I’d say to everybody I’m so glad that I got my son out of there because who knows what would happen?”

“It’s both unconscionable and illegal for Lexington residents to be terrorized and live in fear of the police department whose job is to protect them,” Jill Collen Jefferson, president and founder of Julian, said in a statement.

“These people are putting their lives on the line. … Residents know they can be targeted if they file a complaint, that the cops can come for them — and will,” said Jefferson. “We need both the courts and the Department of Justice to step in immediately.”

LPD allegedly conducted roadblocks multiple times per day for several months — at least 300 within the past year — "for no legitimate purpose other than to surveil Black drivers and passengers." 

People witnessed "authorities arrest multiple Black drivers at the roadblock while allowing White drivers to pass through unstopped," per the complaint.

Plaintiffs also allege that Dobbins, though removed from his position, "continues to menace the community, patrolling in the passenger seat of a police-issued vehicle with an on-duty officer."

Worth noting: Even though the town is majority-Black, the mayor, the city attorney, the city judge and the most recent police chief are all white, the lawsuit notes.

The mayor's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The LPD declined to comment.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with new details throughout.

Mississippi town sued over alleged pattern of discrimination against Black people

The lawsuit comes after the former police chief was recorded bragging about shooting a Black man 119 times.

Photo of a Black Lives Matter sign standing next to a tree in front of a house

A Black Lives Matter yard sign in a residential neighborhood. Photo: Don & Melinda Crawford/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

People across the U.S. honored George Floyd on Wednesday amid mixed progress on police reform and two years after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for nine minutes as he said "I can't breathe" over 20 times.

Why it matters: Floyd's murder ignited protests against police brutality and anti-Blackness around the globe. Yet two years later, many Black Americans feel the world has moved on, even as Black communities remain vulnerable to deadly violence.

State of play: Despite nationwide attention on the issue, 2021 was a record year for police killings. Momentum dwindled after Congress failed to reach a bipartisan agreement on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

Black people are 2.9 times more likely to be killed by police than white people in the U.S., according to the Mapping Police Violence tracker, a project by the police reform nonprofit Campaign Zero. 

Only 1% of police killings in 2021 led to charges. 

What they're saying: "2 years later & Black people still can’t breathe," civil rights lawyer Ben Crump tweeted. 

"Before his name became a hashtag, #GeorgeFloyd was a human being who mattered. A brother, a father, a friend. A person. I'm praying for his family today," said activist Bernice King, the daughter of the late Martin Luther King Jr.

"This crime is part of a system that haunts Black America to this day," Symone Sanders, a former senior adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris, said on her MSNBC show this week.

"His killing stays with us all to this day, especially those who loved him," former President Barack Obama tweeted.

The "fundamental turning point" raised by his death remains unrealized, Melvin Carter, the first Black mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota, told Sanders on her show.

"George Floyd’s brutal death sparked an unprecedented outpouring of outrage and pledges for change worldwide, & we CANNOT stop fighting now," Crump added on Twitter. "We must continue to make our voices heard. Our lives depend on it."

The big picture: The anniversary comes two weeks after an alleged shooter targeted a Black neighborhood and killed 10 people in Buffalo, New York.

President Biden signed an executive order Wednesday that establishes a national database of police misconduct and bans chokeholds unless "deadly force is authorized." 

The order does not address the neck-to-knee restraint that former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin used on Floyd.

Biden called it "a measure of what we can do together to address the profound fear, trauma and exhaustion that African Americans have endured for generations." He added that he will make sure Floyd's legacy lives on.

Photo of murals and flowers surrounding a square

A view of the site where George Floyd was killed at the memorial now known as George Floyd Square on May 25 in Minneapolis. Photo: Stephen Maturen via Getty Images

Photo of posters that depict George Floyd taped on a green wall

Posters of George Floyd as a young man decorate a construction wall on May 22 on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, ahead of the two-year anniversary of his death. Photo: Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images

Photo of a young Black girl looking down as people crowd behind her

President Biden holds the shoulder of Gianna Floyd, George Floyd's daughter, as she sits at the desk where Biden signed an executive order to revise use-of-force policies for federal law enforcement at the White House on May 25. Photo: Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Photo of people kneeling and raising their fists in the air as they hold Black Lives Matter signs

Stand Up To Racism organizes a vigil at the U.S. Embassy in London to mark the second anniversary of the murder of George Floyd on May 25 in London. Photo: Guy Smallman via Getty Images

"Still can't breathe": George Floyd remembered on 2-year anniversary of his murder

The U.S. has seen mixed progress on police reform in the two years since a white officer kneeled on Floyd's neck for nine minutes.

Photo of a white gravestone with George Floyd's name and the image of a fist engraved on it

A view of the George Floyd headstone at the Say Their Names cemetery at George Floyd Square on May 25 in Minneapolis. Photo: Stephen Maturen via Getty Images

George Floyd

President Biden on Wednesday signed a police reform executive order to create a national database of police misconduct, ban the use of chokeholds unless deadly force is authorized and require anti-bias training.

Why it matters: Wednesday marks two years since a white police officer kneeled on George Floyd's neck for nine minutes as he said "I can't breathe" over 20 times. Black civil rights advocates have decried stalled progress on police reform in Congress and slammed the continued lack of accountability for police killings that followed Floyd's death.

Floyd's family met with Biden last year on the one-year anniversary of his murder and said the president assured them he was still committed to passing a police reform bill and "doing everything to make sure [Floyd's] legacy was respected."

Biden signed the order on Wednesday with Floyd and Breonna Taylor's families present at the White House.

This "is a measure of what we can do together to address the profound fear, trauma and exhaustion that African Americans have endured for generations," Biden said in his remarks, adding that he will make sure Floyd's legacy is remembered.

Establishes a national database of police misconduct and requires all federal law enforcement agencies to participate and use the database to screen personnel.

Bans the use of chokeholds and carotid restraints "unless deadly force is authorized" and restricts the use of no-knock entries.

Takes steps to ensure "timely and thorough investigations and consistent discipline."

Mandates body-worn camera policies and the expedited public release of footage in cases of serious bodily injury or deaths in custody for all federal agencies.

Restricts the transfer or federal purchases of military equipment "that belongs on a battlefield, not on our streets."

Implements an annual anti-bias training requirement.

Directs the Health and Human Services Department to publish a nationwide review of the "the physical, mental, and public health effects of use of force incidents on communities, including any disparate impacts."

The big picture: An Axios-Ipsos poll conducted last year found that nearly seven out of 10 Black Americans say police treatment has gotten worse. 

Derrick Johnson, president of NAACP, told Axios' Hans Nichols and Alexi McCammond that "what the administration is proposing is a great thing, but it’s secondary because an executive order only pales in its effectiveness to actual legislation."

Worth noting: In her speech prior to Biden's signing, Vice President Harris called out Senate Republicans for rejecting the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, saying they "walked away from their moral obligation to address what caused millions of Americans to march in the streets."

"You should never have had to mourn in order for our nation to feel your pain and to understand what is wrong," she told Floyd and Taylor's families.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with statements by President Biden and Vice President Harris.

Biden signs police reform order on anniversary of George Floyd's murder

The order bans the use of chokeholds unless deadly force is authorized in all federal agencies.

Photo of Joe Biden signing a bill at a desk while people stand around him smiling

President Biden signs an executive order on police reform in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. on May 25, 2022. Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Joe Biden

The judge presiding over former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin's federal civil rights case in the killing of George Floyd said Wednesday that he has accepted Chauvin's plea agreement and will sentence him to 20 to 25 years in prison, the Star Tribune reports.

Why it matters: Chauvin pleaded guilty in December to violating Floyd's civil rights. It was the first time he admitted that in keeping his knee on Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes, he used unreasonable and excessive force that posed significant risks to Floyd's life.

Chauvin faced up to life in prison on the federal count, but prosecutors said they would seek 25 years after he signed the plea deal.

Credit for good time in the federal system could make him eligible for release after 17 years to 21 years and three months in prison, per the Star Tribune.

He would serve the federal sentence concurrently with his 22.5-year sentence for his murder conviction in Minnesota court, though he is attempting to appeal the latter.

Worth noting: "The federal plea deal means Chauvin will probably spend more time in prison than he faced under his state sentence. State prisoners in Minnesota typically serve one-third of their sentence on parole, which for him would mean 15 years in prison," the Star Tribune writes.

The big picture: The three other former officers who were on the scene when Floyd died were also convicted of related federal civil rights charges in February. 

What's next: U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson will set a sentencing date for Chauvin, who has waived the right to contest his federal conviction with the plea deal.

Judge accepts Derek Chauvin's plea deal, will sentence him to 20-25 years

The former police officer pleaded guilty in December to violating George Floyd's civil rights.

Black Lives Matter movement

The big picture

The major police reforms enacted since George Floyd's death

American society is teetering on the edge

The slippery slope of protest surveillance

The biggest crisis since 1968

Black Americans' competing crises

America's unfinished business

All Black Lives Matter movement stories