A year later after the brutal murder of African American George Floyd that sparked worldwide protests against racial justice, former policeman Derek Chauvin, the accused in the cases, was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison on Friday.
As per several reports, 45-year-old Chauvin, a white, conveyed his condolences to the Floyd family, however without furnishing an apology
Notably, the prosecution had sought at least 30 years of conviction.
"This (jail term) is based on your abuse of a position of trust and authority and also the particular cruelty shown to George Floyd," Judge Peter Cahill told Chauvin, who listened impassively, an Agence Presse France report stated.
President Joe Biden in a statement said, "I don't know all the circumstances that were considered but it seems to me, under the guidelines, that seems to be appropriate."
While, Floyd family's lawyer called the sentencing a "historic" step towards racial reconciliation in the United States.
Chauvin and three colleagues arrested Floyd, 46, in May 2020 on suspicion of having passed a fake $20 bill in a store in Minneapolis, a northern city of around 420,000. They handcuffed him and pinned him to the ground in the street.
Chauvin then knelt on the back of Floyd's neck for nearly 10 minutes, indifferent to the dying man's groans and to the pleas of distraught passers-by.
The scene, filmed and uploaded by a young woman, quickly went viral.