Former congressman Trey Gowdy spoke out on Sunday to call for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin to be charged with the first degree murder of George Floyd.

Gowdy told Fox News that “it took too long” to charge Chauvin for his role in Floyd’s death, and that he deserves to be charged with first degree murder.

“It took too long. You know, murder one in Minnesota is premeditation with an intent to kill murder two is an intent to kill without the premeditation. Murder three is the doing of an inherently dangerous thing that results in someone’s death,” Gowdy told host Maria Bartiromo. “So my question for the prosecutors and cops in Minnesota, Maria, is if you have a man with your knee on his neck and he is telling you, ‘you’re killing me, I cannot breathe. You’re killing me.’ How long’s it take for premeditation to manifest itself?”

“Nobody thinks these cops went to the scene with the intent to kill him. But at some point when you’re being warned that your conduct is taking someone’s life, Isn’t that premeditation? Isn’t that consciousness of guilt that you need to prove an intent to kill?” he continued. “So murder three is the easiest charge. But I was never a prosecutor that liked to go for the easiest thing. I think you need to do what fits the facts. And to me, I think is a murder one charge.”

Chauvin is the infamous officer who was caught on camera kneeling on Floyd’s neck as he said he couldn’t breath before he died in police custody last Monday. Chauvin was then fired from the police force and he has since been charged with third-degree murder and  second-degree manslaughter.

When asked if Chauvin would face federal charges, Gowdy said it was likely.

“They’re going to charge violation of civil rights, which is serious. And if it results in death, you can get a significant sentence. But our criminal justice system is both substantive and it is symbolic. If you take someone’s life intentionally with premeditation, even without premeditation, that’s murder,” the former prosecutor said. “So to call it a violation of someone’s civil rights. Sure. Go ahead and charge him.”

Gowdy added that the state of Minnesota owed it to Floyd to give him “justice.”

“But Minnesota owes it to this victim and his family to also get the Minnesota state law justice,” Gowdy said. “So great the feds are involved. But symbolically, call this what it is. It is the intentional taking, the unlawful taking of someone’s life and that is murder.”