By Al Jazeera
Derek Chauvin, the white former Minneapolis police officer convicted of killing George Floyd, a Black man, was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison Friday.
Chauvin, 45, was convicted in April of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for pressing his knee against Floyd’s neck for up to 9 1/2 minutes as the 46-year-old Floyd gasped that he could not breathe and went limp.
The jury in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin found the former Minneapolis police officer guilty on Tuesday in the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in a decision US President Joe Biden said he hoped would become a “moment of significant change”.
The 45-year-old Chauvin, who was filmed on May 25 last year with his knee on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds, was found guilty on all three counts: second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
After a three-week trial, it took the 12-person jury, consisting of six white and six Black or multiracial men and women, 10 hours to reach their verdict.
Chauvin’s bail was immediately revoked and he was escorted out of court in handcuffs. He will face sentencing in eight weeks and could be sent to prison for decades.
