Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been sentenced to 21 years behind bars on Thursday on federal charges following the death of George Floyd. On May 25, 2020, Chauvin was captured on video with his knee pinned on George Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes leading to his death.
Chauvin is already serving a 22-and -half year sentence after he was found guilty and was convicted of state murder charges for Floyd’s death, which sparked protests across the US against racial injustice and police brutality.
The federal charges against Chauvin include two counts of depriving Mr Floyd his rights by kneeling on his neck while he was handcuffed and for failing to provide medical care during the May 2020 arrest.
As part of the Plea agreement, Chauvin also pled guilty to violating the rights of a 17-year-old black boy during another arrest that took place in 2017. It is alleged that he hit the boy in the head with a flashlight and held his knee on the boy’s neck while he handcuffed him.
In court on Thursday, his lawyer asked for a sentence of 25 years, saying that he respects the legal processes and will not commit the offence again.
Addressing Mr Floyd’s children, some of whom were in court, Chauvin said he wishes them “all the best in their life” and that they have “excellent guidance of becoming good adults”. He did not apologise to them.
“I really don’t know why you did what you did,” US District Court Judge Paul Magnuson said when delivering the sentence of 252 months with seven months of the time already spent behind bars.
“But to put your knee on another person’s neck until there deceased is wrong. You must be substantially punished,” Magnuson said.