Former policeman Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22 and a half years in jail Friday for murdering African American George Floyd, a killing that sparked America’s biggest demonstrations for racial justice in decades.
“The sentence is not based on emotion or sympathy,” said Judge Peter Cahill, handing down the term at a Minneapolis court after prosecutors sought a 30-year sentence.
He added in a short address that it was also not based on “on public opinion,” but on the law and the facts specific to the case.
Floyd died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin knelt on his neck, in what appeared to be an attempt to restrain him.
The death of the African American had sparked outrage within and outside the US.
The Friday sentencing comes months after a jury at a Minnesota state court found Chauvin guilty on the three counts of murder levelled against him.
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The former police officer had been charged with unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, but had pleaded not guilty to all three charges.
In the verdict delivered by the jury in April 2021, Chauvin’s bail was also revoked at the time.
Meanwhile, in March, the city of Minneapolis approved the sum of $27 million as settlement, following the civil lawsuit filed by Floyd’s family over his death in police custody.
AFP
