George Floyd family lawyer praises ‘historic’ Chauvin sentence as others unsatisfied
Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder in the death of George Floyd, was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison Friday afternoon.
Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill sentenced Chauvin to 22.5 years in prison with 199 days already served.
“Due to legal matters, I’m not able to give a full formal statement … I give my condolences to the Floyd family, there’s gonna be some other information in the future that will be of interest and I hope these will give you some peace of mind,” Chauvin said before he was sentenced.
Ben Crump, the attorney for Floyd’s family, called the sentence “historic.”
“This historic sentence brings the Floyd family and our nation one step closer to healing by delivering closure and accountability,” Crump said in a statement. “For once, a police officer who wrongly took the life of a Black man was held to account. While this shouldn’t be exceptional, tragically it is. Day after day, year after year, police kill Black people without consequence. But today, with Chauvin’s sentence, we take a significant step forward — something that was unimaginable a very short time ago.”
Meanwhile, some activists and others said that Chauvin should’ve been sentenced to the 30 years in prison that prosecutors were seeking.
In April, a jury found Chauvin guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died while in police custody on May 25, 2020, and his death sparked an avalanche of protests across the nation. He died after Chauvin pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as three other officers did not intervene.
Darnella Frazier, a 17-year-old bystander, took video of the incident, in which Floyd can be heard saying, “Please, please, please, I can’t breathe.”
Chauvin was only sentenced for the most serious charge — second degree murder, McClatchy News reported.
Hours before Chauvin was sentenced Friday, his request for a new trial was denied by a judge, CNN reported.
Officers J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao were also fired and arrested, charged with abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. Their trials were delayed until March 2022, KARE 11 reported.
When asked about Chauvin’s sentencing Friday afternoon, 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.”
The state also presented victim impact statements from Floyd’s family ahead of Chauvin’s sentencing.
Floyd’s 7-year-old daughter, Gianna, said in a video shown to the court that she misses and loves her father.
”We used to have dinner meals every single night before we went to bed,” she said. “My daddy always used to help me brush my teeth.”
Floyd’s brothers, Terrence and Philonise Floyd, also gave statements and asked for Chauvin to receive a maximum sentence.
“On behalf of me and my family, we seek the maximum penalty,” Terrence Floyd said. “We don’t want to see no more slaps on the wrist. We’ve been through that already.”
“My family has been given a life sentence,” Philonise Floyd said. “We will never be able to get George back.”
This story was originally published June 25, 2021 at 4:26 PM with the headline "George Floyd family lawyer praises ‘historic’ Chauvin sentence as others unsatisfied."