22.5 Years for Chauvin
The sentence has come down.
22.5 years for the cop who killed George Floyd. and he can never own a firearm again.
Not the full sentence, 40 years… which is unfortunate and should have been the ruling.
But better than what historically has been the consequence for cops (if any) for killing Black bodies in cold blood.
Is this the start of more accountability?
We hope so.
Rest in power, George, and may your loved ones find some peace knwoing Chauvin will spend the next 20+ years locked away.
“The sentencing hearing opened with victims' impact statements, including an emotional video from Floyd's seven-year-old daughter, Gianna, who wore a bow wrapped around her hair.
"I ask about him all the time," the little girl said, responding to questions about her dad.
"I miss you and I love you," she said when asked what she would tell her father.
Chauvin, in a light gray suit, white shirt and tie, wore a mask as he listened from the defense table.
Floyd's two brothers and a nephew spoke about the birthday parties, graduations and other family milestones that he will miss.
Philonise Floyd said he has nightmares in which he hears his brother pleading for his life and calling out for their mother. He said he relives the video of his brother "being tortured to death" by Chauvin and the smirk on the former cop's face.
"My family and I have been given a life sentence. We will never get George back," he said.
Philonise wiped tears from his eyes as he spoke about Gianna. Terrence Floyd, another brother, struggled to speak as he asked for the maximum penalty.
"We don't want to see no more slaps on the wrist," nephew Brandon Williams said. "We been through that already -- in my community, in my culture."
Carolyn Pawlenty, Chauvin's mother, also grew emotional as she described him as her favorite son. She said the happiest moments in her life were when Chauvin was born and when she pinned his badge on his uniform for the first time.
"Derek, I want you to know I've always believed in your innocence, and I will never waver from that," she said.
Prosecutors for the state of Minnesota have requested a 30-year prison sentence, saying it "would properly account for the profound impact of Defendant's conduct on the victim, the victim's family, and the community," according to a sentencing memo.
Chauvin's defense attorney, Eric Nelson, argued that the former officer should instead receive probation and time served, or at least a sentence less than what the law guides.
"Mr. Chauvin asks the Court to look beyond its findings, to his background, his lack of criminal history, his amenability to probation, to the unusual facts of this case, and to his being a product of a 'broken' system," Nelson wrote in a filing.
The guilty verdict on all three charges against Chauvin came nearly a year after he impassively kneeled on the neck and back of Floyd, handcuffed and lying prone on the street, for 9 minutes and 29 seconds. Under the officer's knees, the 46-year-old Black man gasped for air, repeatedly exclaimed "I can't breathe" and ultimately went silent as a group of horrified bystanders looked on.
Floyd's final moments, captured on searing cell phone footage by a 17-year-old, illustrated in clear visuals what Black Americans have long said about how the criminal justice system treats Black people. Floyd's death set off mass protests across the globe as well as incidents of looting and unrest.
Chauvin arrived at the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis hours before his sentencing hearing Friday.
Three other officers who were on scene during Floyd's fatal arrest -- Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and Alexander Kueng -- have pleaded not guilty to charges of aiding and abetting. Their trial is currently set for March 2022.”
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/25/us/derek-chauvin-sentencing-george-floyd/index.html
