Ex-US officer sentenced to 22-1/2 years in murder of George Floyd

A US judge sentenced former police officer Derek Chauvin to 22-1/2 years in prison on Friday for the murder of George Floyd during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in May 2020.

The brutal incident was filmed by a bystander and viewed millions of times around the world. It sparked months of protests across the US and other Western nations against racism and police brutality.

Earlier on April 20, a jury found Chauvin, who is white, guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Floyd, a Black man.

The verdict was widely seen as a landmark rebuke of the disproportionate use of police force against Black Americans.

Chauvin's sentence was one of the longest given a former police officer for using unlawful deadly force in the United States. Successful prosecutions of police officers in such cases have been rare.

Prosecutors had asked for a 30-year prison sentence, double the upper limit indicated in sentencing guidelines.

Floyd family dismayed at Chauvin’s punishment

Both Floyd's brother Rodney and his nephew Brandon Williams criticized the sentence as a "slap on the wrist."

"We were served a life sentence," Williams said outside the courthouse. "We can't get George back."

Floyd family dismayed at Chauvin’s punishment

Both Floyd's brother Rodney and his nephew Brandon Williams criticized the sentence as a "slap on the wrist."

"We were served a life sentence," Williams said outside the courthouse. "We can't get George back."

Video of Chauvin kneeling on the neck of the handcuffed Floyd for more than nine minutes caused outrage around the world and the largest protest movement seen in the United States in decades.

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