WASHINGTON — Close Trump adviser Elon Musk reposted a video calling for the President to pardon Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin from a 22-1/2 ear prison sentence. It was Chavin, a white cop, choked George Floyd to death on a Minneapolis street in 2020 and set off racial unrest nationwide. The Musk post originated with odd-ball conservative commentator Ben Shapiro. Hardly anybody paid much attention until Musk repeated the post with the comment: “Think about it.” That elevated the Shapiro proposal into public dialogue — especially in the black community that had taken comfort in the Chauvin conviction as vindication against historically abusive white policing. A pardon would fit Trump’s pardon of rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol in 2021, some of whom had been convicted for brutal acts against Capitol police.
Shapiro profile
Benjamin Shapiro, age 41, is a columnist, who worked for right-wing Breitbart News from 2016 to 2020. He now is editor of the online site Daily Wire, a podcaster, and radio talk-show host. He is a lawyer, clever with words, who flamboyantly advances a range of extreme causes. Among them are that homosexuality is a mental disorder, that capital punishment should be restored, and that federal healthcare should be repealed. He is quick to demonize people with different views. His home is Florida, his media productions from Tennessee.
Shapiro. Two hours daily on 200-plus radio stations in nine of 10 largest U.S. markets.