Minnesota: Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who killed George Floyd on a Minneapolis street last year, was sentenced Friday to 22 and half years in prison.
Under Minnesota law, Chauvin will have to serve two-thirds of his sentence, or 15 years — and he will be eligible for supervised release for the remaining seven and a half years.
The sentence exceeds the Minnesota sentencing guideline range of 10 years and eight months to 15 years for the crime. Floyd’s death sparked massive protests across the nation over police brutality.
Chauvin was convicted in April of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. He faced up to 40 years in prison for second-degree murder, up to 25 years for third-degree murder and up to 10 years for manslaughter.
After Chauvin`s conviction in April, US President Joe Biden had said that the verdict can be a giant step forward on the march towards justice in America.
Chauvin was the first white police officer in Minnesota to be convicted of murdering a Black person, and many in the country saw the high-profile trial as a referendum on policing in the US. The former officer was charged with killing Floyd by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes, which was captured on video footage in May 2020 and triggered nationwide demonstrations for racial justice.