Former police officer Derek Chauvin has been sentenced to 22½ years for the murder of George Floyd, in a decision that has come two months after he was found guilty. The sentence was announced this Friday in Minneapolis, where the episode took place. Chauvin, who has had the opportunity to speak when this sentence was imposed, has offered his “condolences” to George Floyd’s family.
“At this time, due to some additional legal issues, I cannot give a full formal statement,” Chauvin assured in court in Minneapolis. “But briefly, however, I want to give my condolences to the Floyd family,” he said. The former white policeman killed the black citizen George Floyd after immobilizing him with a dangerous maneuver and crushing his neck for more than nine minutes. The episode was taped and outrage swept the globe last summer, bringing racial issues back to the fore in America.
The murder conviction was known last April, and the sentence to be imposed was still pending. He was found guilty of three crimes: second degree murder, third degree murder and second degree murder. The lawyer for the Floyd family has assured that this sentence helps the “reconciliation of the country.” It must be remembered that the family of the murdered George Floyd has already been compensated with a record amount of 27 million dollars.
Denied a new trial
Before the sentence was known, Judge Cahill had already denied the defense’s last attempt to have a new trial on the grounds that both the popular jury that in April found Chauvin guilty of all charges of murder for Floyd’s death as the process had been flawed.
Chauvin’s lawyer, Eric Nelson, argued that his client had not had the right to a fair trial, since, among other issues, the popular jury “acted incorrectly” throughout the process due to “threats” and “intimidation”, as well as for the “racial pressure” of the case.
Floyd was arrested in May 2020 outside a store for having used a false bill to pay for a pack of cigarettes. During the operation, he was handcuffed and placed on the ground on his chest.
Chauvin dug his knee to the victim’s neck for nine minutes, despite warnings that he could not breathe. His death, recorded in a video that went around the world, generated a wave of indignation at a global level, with mobilizations and marches that sometimes led to riots, and put the racism of US institutions on the table again.
