International
Chauvin gets over 22 years for George Floyd murder─── 08:24 Sat, 26 Jun 2021
Former policeman Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison on Friday for the murder of African American George Floyd, the killing that sparked America's biggest demonstrations for racial justice in decades.
The white, 45-year-old Chauvin gave his "condolences" to the Floyd family in a Minneapolis court, without apologising, before Judge Peter Cahill handed down a lesser sentence than the 30 years the prosecution had sought.
"This (jail term) is based on your abuse of a position of trust and authority and also the particular cruelty shown to George Floyd," Cahill told Chauvin, who listened impassively.
The decision was read out at the end of a tense hearing in which the court watched a recorded message by Floyd's seven-year-old daughter and heard from Chauvin's mother.
The Floyd family's lawyer called the sentencing a "historic" step towards racial reconciliation in the United States.
