Today (July 7), former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin will face sentencing in a federal court for violating George Floyd’s civil rights. He is already serving time for state charges. As previously reported by REVOLT, on May 25, 2020, Chauvin forcefully pinned Floyd face down on the ground for over nine minutes as Floyd alerted the officer that he was having difficulty breathing. Although bystanders urged the cop to remove his body weight from Floyd’s neck, Chauvin ignored their pleas and Floyd’s. Floyd died at the scene.
Chauvin and several other officers (Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao) had been responding to reports of Floyd using a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes at a neighborhood store. Sources say Chauvin and Floyd knew each other “pretty well” and “bumped heads” before the fatal encounter. In April 2021, a jury found the former cop guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. In June 2021, he received 22-and-a-half years in jail. Although previously pleading not guilty, in December 2021, he pleaded guilty to violating Floyd’s civil rights.
According to CNN, last month, prosecutors asked a federal judge to sentence the former officer to 25 years in prison. They also asked for five years of supervision upon his release. The outlet added that as of late June, Chauvin spends the majority of his time in solitary confinement at a maximum-security state prison. Thao and Kueng face charges of aiding and abetting in murder and aiding and abetting in manslaughter for Floyd’s death. Their court date is set for Oct. 24. Lane pleaded guilty to state charges in exchange for the dismissal of the top charge against him. His legal team recommended he serve three years in prison.
Earlier this year, prosecutors argued the three officers “made the conscious choice” not to intervene when Chauvin had Floyd handcuffed and pinned to the pavement. “In your custody, in your care,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Samantha Trepel said. She added, it’s “not just a moral responsibility, it’s what the law requires under the U.S. Constitution.”