Judge acknowledges Floyd family pain, sentences Chauvin to 22½ years
Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin has been sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison for the murder of George Floyd, whose dying gasps under Chauvin’s knee led to the biggest outcry against racial injustice in the U.S. in generations.
Judge Peter Cahill told George Floyd’s family members, “I acknowledge and hear the pain that you’re feeling,” before sentencing a former Minneapolis police officer to 22½ years in prison for murder.
Cahill said he would issue a 22-page memorandum explaining his rationale for the sentence, saying it’s “not the appropriate time” to be “profound or clever.” His sentence went 10 years beyond what was called for in sentencing guidelines. Cahill told Chauvin that was “based on your abuse of a position of trust and authority and also the particular cruelty shown to George Floyd.”
Chauvin said his ruling wasn’t based on “emotion or sympathy,” but he acknowledged the widespread pain that Floyd’s death has caused for the community.
“I acknowledge the pain not only of those in this courtroom, but the Floyd family who are outside this courtroom and other members of the community,” Cahill said. “It has been painful throughout Hennepin County, throughout the state of Minnesota, and even the country.”
Gianna Floyd’s video interview was played in court Friday during the sentencing hearing for former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin.
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