Derek Chauvin gets separate 21-year sentence for violating George Floyd’s civil rights

A federal judge on Thursday sentenced Derek Chauvin to 21 years in prison for violating George Floyd's civil rights.

The former Minneapolis police officer is already serving a 22-and-a-half year sentence on state charges of murder and manslaughter over Floyds killing in May 2020.

The federal sentence announced on Thursday will run concurrently and will see Chauvin, 46, moved to a federal prison.

US district judge Paul Magnuson's sentence came after Chauvin had agreed to a plea deal that called for a sentence ranging from 20 to 25 years.

Federal prosecutors had sought the top end of that range, arguing that Chauvin, who is white, killed Floyd in cold blood when he pinned the Black man to the pavement outside a Minneapolis corner store on 25 May 2020, for more than nine minutes as Floyd pleaded that he could not breathe.

Floyd's brother Philonise also asked for the maximum possible sentence. "My family and I have been given a life sentence," the man said. "We will never get George's life back."

The judge also ordered Chauvin to pay restitution in an amount yet to be determined. Chauvin wore an orange prison uniform and a protective mask, according to pool media reports from the courtroom.

Floyd's death led to protests in many cities in the United States and around the world against police brutality and racism.

Before Thursday's sentencing, Chauvin's attorney had sought 20 years, arguing that Chauvin was remorseful.

During Thursday's hearing, Chauvin told Floyd's family that he "wishes all the best" for Floyd's children. But Chauvin's brief remarks included no direct apology or expression of remorse to Floyd's family.

As part of his agreement with prosecutors last year, Chauvin also pleaded guilty to violating the rights of John Pope Jr, who was 14 years old when Chauvin repeatedly hit his head with a flashlight before kneeling on his neck in a violent arrest several years before Floyd's murder. "I was treated as if I was not a human being at the hands of Derek Chauvin," Pope told the court.

Magnuson has not set sentencing dates for the three other officers who were on the scene of Floyd's deadly arrest - Tou Thao, J Alexander Keung and Thomas Lane - who were convicted in February of federal civil rights charges.

Lane is also due to be sentenced on 21 September after pleading guilty in state court to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. Thao and Kueng turned down plea deals and are due to be tried in state court on 24 October on aiding and abetting charges.

The plea deal called for Chauvin to serve the sentences at the same time and to be transferred from a Minnesota state prison to a federal prison, where experts say he likely will be safer and may be held under less restrictive conditions.