Print Is former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin the victim of an unconstitutional piling-on by the U.S. Justice Department? The answer is no — with an explanation that isn’t completely satisfying. On Friday the department announced that a federal grand jury has indicted Chauvin and three other former officers on federal civil-rights charges growing out of the death of George Floyd. (Chauvin also has been indicted in connection with a 2017 incident in which he allegedly struck a 14-year-old boy with a flashlight.) Chauvin, who was convicted by a jury in state court last month of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, now faces federal prosecution for violating Floyd’s right to be free from unreasonable seizure and unreasonable force by a police officer. The other former officers have yet to be tried in state court.