Former policeman Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22-and-a-half years in prison on Friday for the murder of African American George Floyd, the killing that sparked the US’ biggest demonstrations for racial justice in decades.
Chauvin, who is white, gave his “condolences” to the Floyd family in a Minneapolis court, without apologizing, before Judge Peter Cahill handed down a lesser sentence than the 30 years the prosecution had sought.
“This [jail term] is based on your abuse of a position of trust and authority and also the particular cruelty shown to George Floyd,” Cahill told Chauvin, who listened impassively.
Photo: Reuters
The decision was read out at the end of a tense hearing in which the court watched a recorded message by Floyd’s seven-year-old daughter and heard from Chauvin’s mother.
The Floyd family’s lawyer, Ben Crump, called the sentencing a “historic” step toward racial reconciliation in the US.
It “brings the Floyd family and our nation one step closer to healing by delivering closure and accountability,” Crump wrote on Twitter.
Photo: Reuters
US President Joe Biden said: “I don’t know all the circumstances that were considered, but it seems to me, under the guidelines, that seems to be appropriate.”
After the sentence was announced, chanting marchers with megaphones and motorcycle escorts took over some of the city’s busiest blocks during rush hour. No serious incidents were reported as they wound their way through stopped traffic.
The sentencing was long awaited in Minnesota, with hundreds of people gathering near the courthouse into the evening.
Many said that Chauvin should have been given 30 or 40 years.
Chauvin, who has been behind bars since being convicted on three counts of murder and manslaughter two months ago, wore a light gray suit as he learned his fate following a trial that captivated the US.
He spoke briefly, after declining to testify during his six-week trial.
“I do want to give my condolences to the Floyd family,” Chauvin said. “At this time due to some additional legal matters at hand, I’m not able to give a full formal statement at this time.”
“There’s going to be some other information in the future that would be of interest, and I hope things will give you some peace of mind,” he added.
Earlier, the court watched a moving video from the late Floyd’s daughter, Gianna Floyd.
“I miss you and I love you,” the girl said when asked in the recorded message what she said would say to her father today.
Chauvin and three colleagues arrested Floyd in May last year on suspicion of having passed a fake US$20 bill in a store in Minneapolis. They handcuffed him and pinned him to the ground in the street.
Chauvin then knelt on the back of Floyd’s neck for nearly 10 minutes, indifferent to the dying man’s groans and to the pleas of distraught passers-by.
Cahill said his sentence was “not based on emotion or sympathy,” but the law, and in a 22-page sentencing memorandum identified aggravating circumstances that brought a heavier punishment.
They included that Chauvin’s offense occurred in front of minors and that he “committed the crime as a group with the active participation of at least three other” officers.
With good behavior, Chauvin could serve just two-thirds of any prison sentence, with the remaining one-third on supervised release.
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