A Minneapolis court has sentenced former police officer, Derek Chauvin to 22 and a half years in prison for the murder of African American George Floyd.
The sentence is lesser than the 30 years jail term the protection had sought.
Chauvin, 45, gave his “condolences” to the Floyd family in the court before Judge Peter Cahill delivered his judgment.
The former policeman had been behind bars since being convicted on three counts of murder and manslaughter two months ago.
“The sentence is not based on emotion or sympathy,” the judge said.
He added that it had not been based “on public opinion” either but on the law and the facts specific to the case, as he acknowledged the “deep and tremendous pain” the case had caused, particularly to the Floyd family.
Reacting to the judgment, US President, Joe Biden said “I don’t know all the circumstances that were considered but it seems to me, under the guidelines, that seems to be appropriate.”
Floyd, 46, was killed in a gruesome manner in May 2020 after Chauvin knelt on the back of his neck with hands handcuffed to the back for nearly 10 minutes, which sparked global outrage and the Black Lives Matter movement in the US.
