Minneapolis Police Officer Chauvin Gets 21 Years

A United States federal court has sentenced former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin to 21 years in prison for violating the civil rights of George Floyd, a Black man killed when Chauvin “kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes” in an incident that sparked mass protests.

US District Judge Paul Magnuson rebuked Chauvin at the sentencing hearing on Thursday, calling the ex-policeman’s actions when he killed Floyd in May 2020 “offensive.”

“I really don’t know why you did what you did,” Magnuson said. “To put your knee on a person’s neck until they expire is simply wrong … Your conduct is wrong and it is offensive.”

In brief remarks to the court on Thursday, Chauvin made no direct apology or expression of remorse to Floyd’s family, The Associated Press news agency reported.

Chauvin is “already in jail in Minnesota after he was sentenced in a state case last year to 22.5 years for murdering Floyd; he will serve both sentences concurrently at a federal detention facility.”

But Thursday’s sentence means that he will likely spend more time behind bars because inmates become eligible for parole earlier in Minnesota than in federal custody.

The former officer had pleaded guilty to federal charges late last year. “Three other former Minneapolis police officers who were involved in the incident also were convicted in federal Court” in February for violating Floyd’s civil rights. They are awaiting sentencing.

The killing of Floyd, which was videotaped by a bystander, spurred nationwide and international outrage and calls for racial justice and police reform.

Reuters/Shakirat Sadiq