Former police officer Derek Chauvin is already serving a 22-year prison sentence imposed by a Minnesota court for the murder of George Floyd. Now a federal court has convicted him.
Ex-cop Derek Chauvin, who is already serving a long prison sentence for the killing of African-American George Floyd, has been sentenced to more than 20 years in prison in a separate federal trial. The verdict came Thursday in Saint Paul, Minnesota, after the defendant pleaded guilty to violating Floyd’s civil rights in the trial. Floyd thus averted another lengthy process. The agonizing death of George Floyd, who was struggling for air, triggered global protests against police violence and racism in 2020.
On May 25, 2020, the white US policeman had kneed Floyd, who had been arrested and handcuffed in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis, although the 46-year-old repeatedly complained that he could not breathe.
The agonizing death of the African American, captured on a cell phone video, caused international outrage and sparked nationwide protests against racism and police violence. Floyd’s “I can’t breathe” lawsuit went around the world and became a motto of the anti-racism movement Black Lives Matter.
In June 2021, Chauvin was sentenced to 22 years and six months in Minnesota for second-degree murder. In parallel with the state judiciary, the federal judiciary had brought charges against Chauvin, as is possible in the United States. She accused the ex-cop of violating Floyd’s constitutional right not to suffer “disproportionate force from a police officer.” Chauvin pleaded guilty – now the verdict was also in this case.
The two prison sentences can be served at the same time under US law. With a federal conviction, Chauvin could be transferred to a federal prison with better conditions. He is currently serving his sentence in solitary confinement at a maximum security prison in Minnesota.
