Derek Chauvin wishes George Floyd’s children “all the best” as he is sentenced to 21 years in federal prison for violating their father’s civil rights: the term is concurrent with his 22-year murder sentence
- Chauvin is already serving 22.5 years on state murder charges filed last June
- The former police officer is being transferred to a federal prison, considered by many to be a far safer and less restrictive place to serve his sentence
- The lawyer for the disgraced ex-cop, Eric Nelson, had asked the court for a 20-year sentence
Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of killing George Floyd last year, was sentenced to 21 years in prison on a separate federal charge of civil rights violations in a US district court in Minnesota on Thursday.
Chauvin will also be transferred from the state prison where he is currently being held to a federal prison, considered by many to be a far safer and less restrictive place to serve time.
At the sentencing hearing, US District Judge Paul Magnuson told Chauvin, “You must be held accountable for your actions.”
Chauvin’s sentence was set at 252 months in prison, but Judge Magnuson deducted seven months for time already served.
Chauvin, 46, pleaded guilty during a plea bargain in December, admitting he violated Floyd’s civil rights by kneeling on the man’s neck and back.
His plea called for a 20- to 25-year prison sentence; Prosecutors called for the full 25 on the grounds that Chauvin’s actions were cold-blooded and unnecessary, while his attorney, Eric Nelson, called for the minimum.
Chauvin did not apologize to members of Floyd’s family present in the courtroom, but instead said he wished his children “all the best in their lives” and hoped they would receive “excellent guidance to become good adults.”
Chauvin is already serving 22.5 years in his state conviction, which was handed down in June
Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, asked the court that Chauvin receive the maximum sentence.
“My brother was murdered with a knee on his neck for nine minutes in broad daylight,” Floyd said. ‘That [Floyd] Family and I have been sentenced to life imprisonment, we will never get George back.’
Floyd’s friend Courteney Ross sent in a written statement saying she doesn’t hate Chauvin but is trying to forget him.
“It’s hard to explain what was taken from me… Floyd was the man I loved… I miss laughing with him,” she said.
Chauvin appeared in videos captured by horrified viewers kneeling on the handcuffed Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes in May 2020
Chauvin was sentenced last June to 22.5 years on state murder charges, which he has appealed.
He will be serving both his federal and state sentences simultaneously.
This state sentence of murder and manslaughter was the longest ever served by an officer for unlawful use of deadly force.
Before he is even eligible for parole, Chauvin must serve 15 years of his sentence. After that, he could be released for good behavior, but many protesters who chanted outside the Minneapolis courtroom said 15 years wasn’t enough.
Chauvin, who is white, admitted he willfully deprived Floyd of his right to be free from improper seizure, including undue force by a police officer, during the May 2020 arrest.
The former officer was featured in videos captured by horrified bystanders kneeling on the neck of handcuffed Floyd for more than nine minutes during a brutal arrest on a Minneapolis street corner on May 25, 2020.
Floyd’s killing sparked immediate protests in Minneapolis that spread across the US and beyond to reckon on police brutality and discrimination against people of color.
It was one of the largest protest movements ever seen in the United States.
As part of his plea deal, Chauvin also pleaded guilty to violating the rights of a then 14-year-old black boy he was restraining in an unrelated case in 2017.
Two other former officers involved in the incident, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng, will face trial in a state court in January.