The judge said Derek Chauvin’s sentence was based “on your abuse of a position of trust and authority, and also the particular cruelty shown” to Mr Floyd.

Mr Floyd, 48, died after Chauvin knelt on his neck for nine minutes.

His murder caused global protests against racism and police brutality.

Chauvin, 45, was convicted of second-degree murder and other charges last month.

During his trial, his lawyer described the killing as “an error made in good faith”.

Chauvin was also told to register as a predatory offender and was barred from owning firearms for life.

He and three other former officers are separately charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights.

The Floyd family and their supporters welcomed the sentence.

“This historic sentence brings the Floyd family and our nation one step closer to healing by delivering closure and accountability,” lawyer Ben Crump tweeted.

Mr Floyd’s sister Bridgett Floyd said the sentence “shows that matters of police brutality are finally being taken seriously” but there was still “a long way to go”.

President Joe Biden said the sentence “seemed to be appropriate” but admitted that he did not know all the details.

What was said during the sentencing hearing?

During the sentencing hearing, Mr Floyd’s brother Terrence Floyd demanded the maximum available, a sentence of 40 years.

“Why? What were you thinking? What was going through your head when you had your knee on my brother’s neck?” he said.

Mr Floyd’s daughter Gianna, aged seven, appeared in a video recording, saying she missed him and she loved him.

“I ask about him all the time,” she said. “My daddy always used to help me brush my teeth.”

The judge said the case had been painful for the community and the country, but above all, for Mr Floyd’s family.

“What the sentence is not based on is 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,” said Judge Peter Cahill.

Chauvin told the court he offered his condolences to the Floyd family, saying there would be “some other information in the future” and he hoped “things will give you some peace of mind”.

However, he did not apologise.

In court, Chauvin’s mother said he was a “good man”.

“I have always believed in your innocence and I will never waver from that,” said Carolyn Pawlenty.

Chauvin’s sentence was “one of the longest a former police officer has ever received” for deadly force, said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.

What happened to George Floyd?

He bought a pack of cigarettes at a convenience store in May 2020.

A shop assistant believed he had used a counterfeit note and called police after Mr Floyd refused to give the cigarettes back.

When officers arrived, they ordered Mr Floyd out of his parked car and handcuffed him.

A struggle ensued when officers tried to put a screaming Mr Floyd in their squad car.

They wrestled him to the ground and pinned him under their weight.

Chauvin pressed his knee into the back of Mr Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes.

As he was being restrained, Mr Floyd said more than 20 times that he could not breathe, pleading for his mother and begging “please, please, please”.

When the ambulance arrived, Mr Floyd was motionless. He was pronounced dead about an hour later.

His death was filmed by Darnella Frazier, now 18, who was out walking with her cousin when she saw his arrest.

She said she began recording the incident on her phone because “I saw a man terrified, begging for his life”.

Earlier this month, Ms Frazier was awarded a special Pulitzer Prize, the most prestigious award in American journalism.

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The death of Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, in 2020, triggered a wave of demonstrations against racism and police violence in the U.S. in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

Chauvin was convicted of second-degree murder, which is punishable by up to 40 years in prison in the state of Minnesota, as well as third-degree murder, which carries up to 25 years, and second-degree manslaughter, which could earn him 10 years.

His exact sentence will be decided in eight weeks, the judge said.

Chauvin’s bail was revoked and he was handcuffed and led out of the courtroom after the jury’s verdict was announced.

Outside the courthouse, members of the public waiting for the outcome burst into tears at the guilty verdict.

The defence could still appeal.

Experts believe that Chauvin, 45, who has no prior convictions, will likely receive a lower sentence than the maximum allowed.

But the district attorney’s office could submit a request within a week for a higher sentence due to the gravity of the crime.

During the trial, prosecutors accused Chauvin of being responsible for Floyd’s death, while the defence pointed to Floyd’s bad health and drug residues in his blood.

The decision on Chauvin’s guilt or innocence fell to the 12-member jury, which had to reach a unanimous decision.

They had retired for deliberations on Monday afternoon.

The Floyd family’s lawyer, Ben Crump, called the verdict “a turning point in history” and said it sends a clear message on accountability in law enforcement.

“Justice for Black America is justice for all of America!” Crump tweeted.

Philonise Floyd, George Floyd’s brother, told reporters that “justice for George means freedom for all,” after the verdict.

“Today we are able to breathe again,” he said.

His brother’s repeated plea of “I can’t breathe” as he was pinned down has become a slogan against police violence and racism.

Hundreds of people celebrated in front of the courthouse, which was under stepped-up security measures.

National Guard soldiers were deployed to Minneapolis during the trial.

Governor Tim Walz called for demonstrations to remain peaceful ahead of the verdict.

There was a festival atmosphere outside court, with chants of “Black Lives Matter” and George Floyd’s name, and traffic in the surrounding streets came to a standstill.

People also gathered at the crime scene, known today as George Floyd Square.

Floyd died on May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis after his arrest on suspicion of paying with a counterfeit 20-dollar-bill.

Police officers pushed him to the ground on the street and Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes while Floyd begged to be able to breathe, according to footage of the arrest.

Floyd lost consciousness and instantly died, according to the autopsy.

Chauvin was expelled from the police force and later released on bail.

Three other former police officers involved in the operation are facing charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

A separate trial has been set for them, to start on August 23.

Police reform legislation named for Floyd is pending in the U.S. Congress.

The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives has approved the bill, but the agreement of some Republicans would also be needed to get it through the Senate.

Source: dpa/NAN

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The prosecution told jurors that Mr Chauvin had murdered Mr Floyd, but the defence said their client had correctly followed police training.

The court is being protected by barbed wire, high barriers and armed soldiers from the National Guard.

Cities across the country are bracing for protests regardless of the verdict.

On Monday, the prosecution and defence made their closing statements in a trial that lasted three weeks.

The prosecution then had another opportunity to rebut defence arguments before the jury was sent to deliberate.

How did the defence sum up?

Mr Chauvin’s lawyer Eric Nelson argued that his client did what any “reasonable police officer” would have done after finding himself in a “dynamic” and “fluid” situation involving a large man scuffling with three officers.

He said Mr Chauvin’s body camera and badge were knocked off his chest owing to “the intensity of the struggle”.

Mr Nelson also argued that Mr Floyd’s drug use was “significant” because the body reacts to opioid use, specifically in the case of someone who had been diagnosed with hypertension and high blood pressure.

The lawyer also argued that his client was unlikely to have intentionally violated use-of-force rules as he would have been aware that the whole interaction was being recorded.

“Officers know that they are being videotaped,” added Mr Nelson.

How did the prosecution sum up?

Prosecutor Steve Schleicher urged jurors to “use your common sense. Believe your eyes. What you saw, you saw,” referring to the video showing Mr Chauvin kneeling on Mr Floyd for more than nine minutes last 25 May.

“This wasn’t policing; this was murder,” he added.

Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell had the final word on Monday.

He said the matter was “so simple that a child can understand it”.

“In fact, a child did understand it, when the nine-year-old girl said, ‘Get off of him,'” Mr Blackwell said, referring to a young onlooker who objected. “That’s how simple it was. ‘Get off of him.’ Common sense.”

What happens now?

The jury will be sequestered to consider testimony from 45 witnesses, including doctors, use-of-force experts, police officers, bystanders and people who were close to Mr Floyd.

The defendant is charged with second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter.

Mr Chauvin faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charge – second-degree murder.

A conviction on any of the counts against him will require the jury to return a unanimous verdict.

A single juror holding out would result in a mistrial, but the state could then try Mr Chauvin again.

Of the 12 jurors, six are white, four are black and two are multiracial. Seven are women and five are men.

How is the US preparing for the verdict?

The footage of Mr Chauvin, who is white, restraining Mr Floyd, a black man, on the floor as he shouted “I can’t breathe” spurred months of global protests in 2020.

On Monday the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, requested security assistance from the states of Ohio and Nebraska ahead of the verdict.

The Democrat was heavily criticised after more than 1,000 buildings and businesses were damaged in rioting last year.

In the early hours of Sunday, two National Guard members who were providing neighbourhood security in Minneapolis escaped with minor injuries when they were shot at in a drive-by shooting.

What else happened in court?

After the jury was sent out on Monday, Mr Nelson argued remarks made by Democratic representative Maxine Waters over the weekend urging protesters to “get more confrontational” may have influenced the jury.

If there is no guilty verdict in Mr Chauvin’s trial, the California congresswoman said in Minneapolis, “then we know that we got to not only stay in the street, but we have got to fight for justice”.

In response, Judge Peter Cahill said: “I give you that congresswoman Waters may have given you something on appeal that may result in this trial being overturned.”

The judge said the failure of elected officials to stop talking about the case in a manner disrespectful to the rule of law was “abhorrent”.

However, he said Ms Waters’ “opinion really doesn’t matter a whole lot”, and he dismissed Mr Nelson’s motion for a mistrial.

Source: BBC

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Chief Medaria Arradondo said the way Mr Chauvin restrained Mr Floyd was not in line with training and “certainly not part of our ethics and our values”.

The chief had fired Mr Chauvin and the three other officers involved days after Mr Floyd’s death last May.

Mr Chauvin is on trial for murder and has denied the charges against him.

Footage of Mr Chauvin, who is white, kneeling on African-American Mr Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes last year sparked global protests against racism.

Monday marks the sixth day in Mr Chauvin’s trial, which is expected to last for at least one month.

As police officers are rarely convicted or charged at all for deaths that occur in custody, the verdict in this trial is being seen as an indication of how the US legal system will treat such cases in future.

What did the police chief say?

Prosecutors, who are seeking to prove that Mr Chauvin’s actions violated his training, focused their questions on departmental guidelines and strategies taught to help officers de-escalate situations.

Mr Arradondo told the court Mr Floyd should not have been restrained in the manner used by the officers after he stopped resisting, “and certainly once he was in distress”.

He said the type of restraint Mr Chauvin, 45, was using came “once there was no longer any resistance and clearly after Mr Floyd was no longer responsive – and even motionless”.

“That is, in no way, shape or form, by policy, is not part of our training, and is certainly not part of our ethics and our values.”

Mr Arradondo also noted it would be rare for officers to take into custody a suspect accused of passing a counterfeit bill, as Mr Floyd was.

The police chief said “talking your way out of a situation” was always better than using force, adding that officers may seek the “community’s help” when available.

Defence lawyer Eric Nelson questioned Mr Arradondo about officers brandishing a weapon to defuse a situation, as Mr Chauvin did by holding up pepper spray to onlookers.

“Sometimes an officer has to take out his gun, and say hey if you don’t listen to me I’m going to use force,” Mr Nelson said.

The chief agreed it was in line with policy to sometimes gesture in such a way to get a suspect to back down.

When shown different angles of footage of the arrest by Mr Nelson, Mr Arradondo also noted that right before the paramedics arrived, it appeared that Mr Chauvin had shifted his knee onto Mr Floyd’s shoulder blade.

Who is Chief Arradondo?

Mr Arradondo joined the force in 1989. He became the city’s first African-American police chief in 2017.

Last June, Mr Arradondo said that Mr Floyd’s “tragic death was not due to a lack of training – the training was there”.

He called Mr Floyd’s death “murder”, and said Mr Chauvin “knew that Floyd was nonresponsive” during the last few minutes.

This is not the first time that Mr Arradondo has testified against a former officer.

As assistant chief, he testified against patrolman Mohamed Noor for the killing of Australian woman Justine Damond in 2017.

Earlier in his career, he successfully sued the Minneapolis police department along with four other officers, accusing the force of tolerating discriminatory practices.

What else happened in court?

On Monday, the court also heard from Dr Bradford Wankhede Langenfeld, who pronounced Mr Floyd dead 30 minutes after he arrived at the Hennepin Country Medical Center.

Dr Lagenfeld said he believes that Mr Floyd’s death was caused from a lack of oxygen, called asphyxia.

Prosecutors have suggested that asphyxiation was the cause of Mr Floyd’s death – contrasting the ruling of the medical examiner who said Mr Floyd died of “cardiopulmonary arrest”, which means a person’s heart and lungs have stopped.

Mr Chauvin’s defence team has contended that alleged drug use and an underlying heart condition contributed to Mr Floyd’s death.

The physician’s appearance in court follows testimony from two paramedics who said that Mr Floyd had no pulse and did not appear to be breathing when they arrived at the scene.

Source: BBC

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“I can confirm Derek Chauvin is not in custody at Oak Park Heights at this time,” said Sarah Fitzgerald, a spokesperson for the Minneapolis Department of Corrections.

Floyd died in May after Chauvin pinned him to the ground with his knee for nearly nine minutes as Floyd begged for his life.

His death is one in a series of incidents caught on video in the United States that have sparked demonstrations against police brutality and systematic racism.

Chauvin has been charged with second and third degree murder and manslaughter in connection with the case.

Three other former officers, who also held Floyd down are charged with aiding and abetting murder.

Source: dpa/NAN

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