George Floyd killer guilty of civil rights violations

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced on Thursday to 21 years in prison for violating George Floyd's civil rights during the arrest that lead to Floyd's death in May 2020.

Chauvin had already been found guilty of murder and sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison for having pinned Floyd to the pavement with his knee outside a Minneapolis corner store for more than nine minutes, as the Black man lay dying.

Chauvin pleaded guilty in December 2021 to violating the civil rights of Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man. 

Floyd's killing sparked anti-racism protests worldwide, a movement known as Black Lives Matter, which was also a reckoning over police brutality and discrimination.

Three ex-officers of the Minneapolis police have also been found guilty of negligence, showing "deliberate indifference" to George Floyd's medical needs. They are still awaiting sentencing for the crime.

Federal judge: Chauvin's actions 'wrong and offensive'

US District Judge Paul Magnuson admonished Chauvin for his actions. "I really don't know why you did what you did,'' Magnuson said.

"To put your knee on a person's neck until they expired is simply wrong... Your conduct is wrong and it is offensive.''

In brief remarks to the court, Chauvin said he recognized the court's difficulty in handling a case in a "politically charged environment,"

He made no direct apology or expression of remorse to Floyd's family.

But he told the family that he wishes Floyd's children "all the best in their life'' and that they have "excellent guidance in becoming good adults.''

Chauvin's two sentences will run concurrently and he will be allowed to serve his term in a federal prison rather than in a Minnesota state penitentiary, where he has been held under solitary confinement.

jcg/sms (AP, Reuters)