George Floyd Death: Derek Chauvin Sentenced To 22½ Years in Prison

Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced Friday to 22½ years in prison for the murder of George Floyd, whose dying gasps under Chauvin’s knee led to the biggest outcry against racial injustice in the U.S. in generations. In imposing the punishment, Judge Peter Cahill went beyond the 12½-year sentence prescribed under state guidelines, citing Chauvin’s “abuse of a position of trust and authority and also the particular cruelty” shown to Floyd. Chauvin was immediately led back to prison. As with the verdicts in April, he showed little emotion when the judge pronounced the sentence.

The fired white officer was convicted of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for pressing his knee against Floyd’s neck for up to 9½ minutes as the 46-year-old Black man gasped that he couldn’t breathe and went limp on May 25, 2020.

Credit: LA Times