The white police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced Thursday to more than 20 years in prison by the United States federal justice for having asphyxiated the African-American George Floyd with his knee in May 2020.
The 46-year-old former agent had already been sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison by the Minnesota state court, but he appealed the sentence. The concurrent federal sentence is, for its part, final since it results from a plea agreement.
It can be served at the same time as the other sentence, said Judge Paul Magnuson of the Saint-Paul court, giving him credit for the seven months already spent in detention.
No excuses
“I don’t know why you did this, but putting your knee on someone’s neck until they die is wrong.” And for that, you must be severely punished, ”explained the magistrate to him. During a short intervention, Derek Chauvin wished the children of George Floyd to “succeed in life”, without apologizing or expressing the slightest remorse.
On May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis, Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer, wanted to arrest George Floyd, suspected of having used a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes. With three colleagues, he had tackled him to the ground, before kneeling on his neck.
The policeman had maintained his pressure for nearly ten minutes, indifferent to the groans of George Floyd but also to the pleas of panicked passers-by, even once the pulse of the forties became undetectable.