Derek Chauvin sentenced to 22.5 years for George Floyd's murder

By Veronica Rocha, Fernando Alfonso III, Meg Wagner and Melissa Macaya, CNN

Updated 8:00 p.m. ET, June 25, 2021
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7:59 p.m. ET, June 25, 2021

What you need to know about Derek Chauvin's sentencing today

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced Friday to more than two decades in jail following his conviction for the 2020 murder of George Floyd.

Here is what you need to know:

  • The sentencing: Chauvin has been sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison in the murder of Floyd. Prosecutors had asked for a 30-year sentence, and Chauvin’s attorney asked for probation and time served. Chauvin was convicted in April of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Technically, Chauvin faced up to 40 years in prison for second-degree murder, up to 25 years for third-degree murder and up to 10 years for manslaughter.
  • Judge's remarks: Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill expressed his condolences for Floyd's family moments before handing down his sentence for Chauvin. He said the sentence was "not based on emotion or sympathy." "But at the same time I want to acknowledge the deep and tremendous pain that all the families are feeling, especially the Floyd family. You have our sympathies," Cahill said. "It has been painful throughout Hennepin County, throughout the state of Minnesota, and even the country. But most importantly we need to recognize the pain of the Floyd family."
  • Chauvin speaks: "I want to give my condolences to the Floyd family," Chauvin said during a brief statement before the sentencing. "There's going to be some other information in the future that would be of interest and I hope things will give you some peace of mind." It was not immediately clear what additional information Chauvin was referencing.  
  • Floyd's daughter speaks: Floyd's 7-year-old daughter delivered the first victim impact statement at Chauvin's sentencing. "I ask about him all the time," she said. Someone in the video asked Gianna what she would tell her father if she could see him again. "It would be I miss you and I love you," she said.
  • Haunted by his brother's death: "Every day, I have begged for justice to be served, reliving the execution of George while others begged and pleaded for officer Chauvin to simply just allow George to take a breath. I haven't had a real night's sleep because of the nightmares I constantly have, hearing my brother beg and plead for his life over and over again," Philonise Floyd said in court today before the sentencing. "I have had to sit through each day of officer Derek Chauvin's trial and watch the video of George dying for hours, over and over again. For an entire year, I had to relive George being tortured to death every hour of the day, only taking naps and not knowing what a good night's sleep is anymore."
  • Biden reacts: President Biden reacted Friday to the sentencing, telling reporters in the Oval Office, “I don’t know all the circumstances that were considered, but it seems to me, under the guidelines, that seems to be appropriate.”
  • Minnesota attorney general calls for change: Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison placed the sentencing this afternoon in perspective, saying he hopes "this moment gives us pause and allows us to rededicate ourselves to the real societal change that will move us much further along the road to justice." "My hope is that he takes the time to learn something about the man whose life he took and about the movement that rolls up to call for justice in the wake of George Floyd's torture and death," he said.

7:26 p.m. ET, June 25, 2021

Chauvin will remain in a restrictive unit at a Minnesota correctional facility "for the time being"

From CNN's Brad Parks

Derek Chauvin will remain in a restricted housing unit, separated from the general population at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Oak Park Heights “for the time being,” Minnesota Department of Corrections spokesperson Sarah Fitzgerald tells CNN.

“This is his current housing assignment. His ultimate placement is undetermined, but his safety will be our predominate concern when determining final placement,” Fitzgerald said. Chauvin has been on administrative segregation status for his "general safety," she added.

Chauvin has been held at the correctional facility in Stillwater, Minnesota, about 25 miles east of downtown Minneapolis while awaiting sentencing for the murder of George Floyd. 

A number of factors will be taken into consideration when determining where Chauvin will ultimately serve his prison sentence. Facility placement is based on “length of sentence, offense characteristics, programming directives, criminal history, institutional adjustment, safety, detainers, escape history, and prior incarcerations," Fitzgerald said.  

According the Minnesota Department of Corrections, all units in Administrative Control Unit where Chauvin is housed have a camera. All the unit cameras are monitored and corrections officers do rounds at least every 30 minutes. Upon intake into the facility, all people are assessed for mental health concerns each time they come back to the facility.

Fitzgerald added a new mugshot of Chauvin will be made available on Monday.

6:12 p.m. ET, June 25, 2021

Judge says Chauvin treated Floyd "without respect and denied him the dignity owed to all human beings"

From CNN's Aaron Cooper

Pool
Pool

In a 22-page memorandum, Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill explained his rational for sentencing former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin to 22 and a half years for the second-degree unintentional murder of George Floyd.

The sentence exceeds the Minnesota​ sentencing guideline range of 10 years and eight months to 15 years for the crime.

Cahill rejected a defense request for probation, citing reasons including “because a probationary sentence would be disproportionate and understate the severity of Mr. Chauvin’s offense.”

“Mr. Chauvin’s continuing insistence that he believed ‘he was simply performing his lawful duty in assisting other officers in the arrest of George Floyd’ and was acting “in good faith reliance [on] his own experience as a police officer and the training he had received… was rejected by every supervisory and training officer of the Minneapolis Police Department who testified at trial as well as by the jury,” Cahill wrote.  

Cahill said two aggravating factors warranted the harsher sentence: Chauvin “abused his position of trust or authority” and treated Floyd with “particular cruelty.”   

“These factual findings provide a ‘[s]ubstantial and compelling’ basis for an aggravated sentencing departure, because they demonstrate that Mr. Chauvin’s conduct ‘was significantly more . . . serious than that typically involved in the commission of the crime[s] in question,’” Cahill wrote citing prior cases. “’Defendant objectively remained indifferent to Mr. Floyd’s pleas’ even as ‘Mr. Floyd was begging for his life and obviously terrified by the knowledge that he was likely to die…’ Mr. Chauvin’s prolonged restraint of Mr. Floyd was also much longer and more painful than the typical scenario in a second-degree or third-degree murder or second-degree manslaughter case.”

Two other aggravating factors the court had earlier found were present in this incident, that children were at the scene of Floyd’s death and that the crime was committed by a group of officers, did not warrant an upwards sentencing departure, Cahill found.  

“Mr. Chauvin, rather than pursuing the (Minneapolis Police Department) mission, treated Mr. Floyd without respect and denied him the dignity owed to all human beings and which he certainly would have extended to a friend or neighbor,” the judge concluded.  

Under Minnesota law, Chauvin will have to serve two-thirds of his sentence in prison (15 years), ​and he will be eligible for supervised release for the other seven and a half years.

5:49 p.m. ET, June 25, 2021

This is what the scene is like outside the Minneapolis court

Former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced today to 22 and a half years in prison for the 2020 murder of George Floyd.

Here's what it looked like outside the Minneapolis courthouse:

Jennifer Starr Dodd, center, holds up three fingers to symbolize the three other police officers still to be tried, as supporters react to the sentencing of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd on Friday, June 25, at George Floyd Square in Minneapolis.
Jennifer Starr Dodd, center, holds up three fingers to symbolize the three other police officers still to be tried, as supporters react to the sentencing of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd on Friday, June 25, at George Floyd Square in Minneapolis. Julio Cortez/AP

A person reacts outside Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis after Chauvin's sentencing.
A person reacts outside Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis after Chauvin's sentencing. Nicholas Pfosi/Reuters

Mileesha Smith hugs Brandon Johnson at George Floyd Square after Chauvin's sentence was handed down on June 25.
Mileesha Smith hugs Brandon Johnson at George Floyd Square after Chauvin's sentence was handed down on June 25. Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via Getty Images

People watch the sentencing hearing on a cell phone at George Floyd Square in Minneapolis.
People watch the sentencing hearing on a cell phone at George Floyd Square in Minneapolis. Julio Cortez/AP

Courteney Ross, girlfriend of George Floyd, embraces another woman shortly after the sentencing of Chauvin on June 25.
Courteney Ross, girlfriend of George Floyd, embraces another woman shortly after the sentencing of Chauvin on June 25. Christian Monterrosa/AP

People gather at George Floyd Square during the sentencing hearing on June 25.
People gather at George Floyd Square during the sentencing hearing on June 25. Julio Cortez/AP

Rev. Al Sharpton and attorney Ben Crump hold a prayer with members of George Floyd's family outside of the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis.
Rev. Al Sharpton and attorney Ben Crump hold a prayer with members of George Floyd's family outside of the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis. Christian Monterrosa/AP

People wait outside Hennepin County Government Center ahead of the sentencing on June 25.
People wait outside Hennepin County Government Center ahead of the sentencing on June 25. Nicholas Pfosi/Reuters

A person waits outside Hennepin County Government Center ahead of Chauvin's sentencing.
A person waits outside Hennepin County Government Center ahead of Chauvin's sentencing. Nicholas Pfosi/Reuters

5:17 p.m. ET, June 25, 2021

Philonise Floyd: "Your skin color should not define who you are. It should never be a weapon"

Pool
Pool

Philonise Floyd reflected on his brother George Floyd's life following the sentencing of Derek Chauvin and what his loss means to his niece.

"The fact that Gianna will grow up knowing that her father had made a difference in the world, but the fact that she cannot have a sweet 16, she cannot have him walk her down the aisle. She will not be able to have prom with the daddy dance. This is not something realistic. This is something it's like a dream, but we all need to stand up for what is right," Philonise Floyd said.

Philonise Floyd added: "I have so many different people I spoke to, Africa, all around the world, and they all think the same way. Your skin color should not define who you are. It should never be a weapon."

Watch:

4:54 p.m. ET, June 25, 2021

Minnesota attorney general calls on Congress to pass "strongest version" of the George Floyd policing bill

From CNN's Jason Kurtz

WCCO/Pool
WCCO/Pool

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is calling on lawmakers to help curb police brutality.

"I'm not talking about the kind of change that takes decades. I'm talking about real change, concrete change that real people can do now," said Ellison in the wake of Derek Chauvin's sentencing.

"At this historic moment, there is so much legislation around the country, in city councils, county boards, state legislatures, and Congress that is still waiting to be passed. If these bills were passed, they would make the deaths at the hands of law enforcement officers less likely."

On Friday afternoon, a judge in Minnesota sentenced Chauvin, a former police officer, to 22 and a half years in prison for the murder of George Floyd.

"Every one of these bills at every level of government is critical for helping our families, our law enforcement officers, communities, and the country heal," said Ellison. "Above all, Congress has still not passed the George Floyd Justice [in] Policing Act. I call on leaders and members of Congress to pass the best and strongest version of this bill."

Citing a continued "distrust between community and police," Ellison noted that such a fissure leads to an increase in violence and death.

"And at a moment where violent crime is spiking across the nation in major cities, we simply cannot afford the distrust," said Ellison. "The schism leaves us all a little less safe."

5:33 p.m. ET, June 25, 2021

Biden says Chauvin's sentencing "seems to be appropriate" under the guidelines

From CNN's DJ Judd

President Biden reacted Friday to the sentencing verdict in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, telling reporters in the Oval Office, “I don’t know all the circumstances that were considered, but it seems to me, under the guidelines, that seems to be appropriate.”

Chauvin was sentenced earlier Friday to 22 and a half years for the second-degree unintentional murder of George Floyd. Sentences for the lesser convictions of second-degree manslaughter and third-degree murder were not adjudicated.  

Biden, when asked to react to the sentence, told reporters in the Oval Office, “I’ve not been able to hear anything about what’s happened,” prompting a reporter to inform him of Chauvin’s sentence.

Watch more from CNN's Jeremy Diamond:

4:53 p.m. ET, June 25, 2021

Attorney Ben Crump says "real justice would be George Floyd still being here with his family"

KARE/Pool
KARE/Pool

Attorney Ben Crump, who represents George Floyd's family, said the prison sentence for Derek Chauvin should "not be the exception when a Black person is killed by brutality by police."

"Today represents an opportunity to be a turning point in America. This is the longest sentence that a police officer has ever been sentenced to in the history of the state of Minnesota," Crump said in a speech following Chauvin's sentencing in Minneapolis. "But this should not be the exception when a Black person is killed by brutality by police. It should be the norm. And so when we think about real justice, real justice would be George Floyd still being here with his family."

Watch:

4:50 p.m. ET, June 25, 2021

Rev. Al Sharpton says the Chauvin sentence is "not justice because George Floyd is in a grave tonight"

Kerem Yucel/AFP via Getty Images
Kerem Yucel/AFP via Getty Images

Rev. Al Sharpton was critical of the 22.5 year jail sentence imposed on Derek Chauvin this afternoon, saying the former police officer should have received the maximum sentence.

"This verdict and this sentencing is the longest sentence we've seen, but it is not justice because George Floyd is in a grave tonight even though Chauvin will be in jail," Sharpton said during a speech in Minneapolis. "So let us not feel that we're here to celebrate because justice would've been George Floyd never had been killed. Justice would've been the maximum."

Sharpton added: "We got more than we thought only because we have been disappointed so many times before,  22 and a half years is longer than we've ever got. But shorter than what we should've gotten in the past."

Watch the moment: