Derek Chauvin sentenced to over 22 years in prison for George Floyd murder

According to details, the 45-year old police officer was convicted of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for pressing his knee against George Floyd’s neck for up to 9 1/2 minutes which took his life.

While pronouncing the verdict, the judge stated that Derek Chauvin's sentence for “abusing a position of trust and authority, and also the particular cruelty shown to Mr Floyd.”

During his trial, his lawyer had termed the killing as "an error made in good faith".

The murder of Floyd sparked global protests against police brutality and racism. Following the verdict, Floyd's sister Bridgett Floyd said that the sentence "shows that matters of police brutality are finally being taken seriously" but there was still "a long way to go".

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