In the trial for the killing of the African American George Floyd, the responsible court in the US city of Minneapolis has announced the sentence for Derek Chauvin. The white ex-policeman has to go to prison for 22.5 years.
The family of the victim was satisfied with it. “This historic conviction brings the Floyd family and our nation one step closer to healing by providing closure and accountability,” said family lawyers with the Floyds family on Friday. This “significant step” was unthinkable in the US a short time ago.
Chauvin was found guilty by jury at the end of April, including unintentional second-degree murder. According to German law, this would roughly correspond to the criminal offense of manslaughter. A judge had already recognized the particular gravity of the crime. As a police officer, Chauvin abused his position of power, did not provide first aid and treated Floyd with “particular cruelty” in the presence of children.
The prosecution had demanded 30 years imprisonment for Chauvin, his defense attorney Eric Nelson, however, only a suspended sentence. His client had no criminal record, had no previous legal problems and had no intention of killing Floyd. “He believed he was doing his job.”
Chauvin: “I would like to express my condolences to the Floyd family”
Before the sentence was announced, the brother of the killed African American George Floyd made emotional statements in court on Friday. “What did you think, what was going through your head when you kneeled on my brother’s neck?” Said Terrence Floyd in the presence of the convict. Floyd had to fight back tears during his brief speech. He called for the “maximum penalty” for chauvin.
The mother of the convicted ex-police officer also turned to the court: “Derek is a calm, thoughtful, honorable and selfless man. He has a big heart,” said Carolyn Pawlenty. The public will never know what kind of loving man chauvin is. Turning to her son, she added: “I have always believed in your innocence and will never deviate from it”. She’ll be there for him when he gets home from prison.
Chauvin himself addressed the family of George Floyd for the first time with a message. “I would like to express my condolences to the Floyd family,” said the convict. Due to federal judicial proceedings and a possible appeal, however, he cannot give a full statement at the moment.
The George Floyd case sparked the largest protest movement in the United States in decades
Floyd’s violent death on May 25, 2020 during a police operation in Minneapolis had sparked demonstrations against racism and police violence in the United States. Videos of police pushing the unarmed Floyd to the ground spread rapidly. Chauvin pressed his knee to Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes while Floyd pleaded for him to breathe. Floyd passed out and died. The officers arrested him on suspicion of paying for a pack of cigarettes with a fake $ 20 bill.
The demonstrations became the largest protest movement in the United States in decades. Floyd’s desperate words, “I can’t breathe,” uttered over and over again in his last minutes, have now become a metaphor for racism and police violence against African Americans and other minorities in the United States.
Many observers had seen the guilty verdict against Chauvin in April as a milestone in the fight against discrimination against African Americans in the USA, even as a kind of turning point in history, a triumph over what many complained of decades of impunity for crimes against blacks.
Three other ex-police officers are charged
With the sentence that has now been announced, the case is not yet legally over. Chauvin can appeal. Independently of the Minnesota trial, he has also been charged in federal court. The US Department of Justice said the accused was accused of deliberately depriving Floyd of his constitutional rights.
In addition to Chauvin, three other ex-police officers involved in the operation against Floyd were also charged. You will be on trial in Minneapolis beginning March next year. They are charged with aid. They too could face several years’ imprisonment.