Post Context

Hennepin County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Baker did the autopsy and ruled Floyd's death a homicide, listing the cause as "cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression." At trial he testified fentanyl and heart disease "did not directly cause" that restraint-related death — which is the opposite of what Musk is asserting. Four other physicians who reviewed the case independently concluded Floyd died of asphyxia.

The "he didn't intend for a death to occur" line is also a category error. Chauvin was convicted of second-degree unintentional murder — the charge exists precisely for deaths caused during a felony assault without intent to kill. Intent to kill was never part of what the state had to prove.

A Hennepin County jury convicted Chauvin on all three counts (second-degree murder, third-degree murder, second-degree manslaughter) in April 2021 after 14 days of testimony from 44 witnesses. The Minnesota Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed the conviction in April 2023; both the Minnesota Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court declined to review it that fall. Chauvin has since filed further postconviction petitions — the one prompting Musk's post, filed Aug. 18, 2026, argues the case was structurally invalid because Attorney General Keith Ellison shouldn't have prosecuted it. None of the filings to date have succeeded.

• State v. Chauvin, Minn. Ct. App. (2023)
• Minnesota Court of Appeals upholds conviction
• Forbes: Musk renews call for Chauvin's release