Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who murdered George Floyd, has been sentenced to 22 years and six months for second-degree murder.
The 45-year-old appeared in court on Friday two months after a jury found him guilty on three charges related to Floyd’s death.
After four victim impact statements from members of the Floyd family, including his seven-year-old daughter Gianna, prosecutors argued before judge Peter Cahill that Chauvin should face the maximum sentence, for a first time offender, of 30 years for second-degree murder.
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“Every day I have begged for justice to be served, reliving the execution of George, while others begged, they pleaded for officer Chauvin to simply just allow George to take a breath,” Floyd’s brother Philonise told the court before sentencing as he also requested the maximum sentence. “I haven’t had a real night’s sleep because of the nightmares I constantly have hearing my brother beg and plead for his life over and over again.”
Terrence Floyd, another of George Floyd’s brothers, directly addressed the former officer, who appeared in court wearing a grey suit with a shaved head.
I wanted to know from the man himself [Chauvin] why? What were you thinking? What was going through your head when you had your knee on my brother’s neck. When you knew that he posed no threat any more, he was handcuffed, why you didn’t at least get up, why you stayed there?”
Chauvin’s defense attorney Eric Nelson had requested the court issue a probatory sentence.
Chauvin himself spoke briefly to the court before he was sentenced, suggesting that “additional legal matters” prevented him from speaking at length.
“Very briefly though, I want to give my condolences to the Floyd family, there’s going to be some other information in the future that would be of interest, and I hope some things would give you some peace of mind,” he said.
Chauvin’s mother asked for the court to show restraint and said, despite the unanimous guilty verdicts on second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter, that her son was innocent. She did not address the Floyd family.
Floyd’s death, on 25 May 2020, ignited a wave of racial justice protest around the United States and internationally, with Chauvin’s subsequent trial seen as a litmus test for police accountability.
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