Former police officer Derek Chauvin has made no apologies to George Floyd's family before being sentenced to 21 years in prison for violating Floyd's rights, wishing his children "all the best" in becoming "good adults".
Chauvin — who is white — was one of four officers present on May 25, 2020, when the black man was pinned to the pavement outside a Minneapolis corner store for more than 9 minutes.
US District Judge Paul Magnuson sharply criticised Chauvin for his actions as Mr Floyd lay dying.
Mr Floyd's killing sparked protests worldwide in a reckoning over police brutality and racism.
"I really don't know why you did what you did," the judge said. "To put your knee on a person's neck until they expired is simply wrong … Your conduct is wrong and it is offensive."
The judge — who earlier this year presided over the federal trial and convictions of the three other officers involved — blamed Chauvin alone for what happened.
Chauvin was, by far, the most senior officer present and had rebuffed questions from one of the others about whether Mr Floyd should be turned on his side.
"You absolutely destroyed the lives of three young officers by taking command of the scene," the judge said.
However Chauvin's sentence was at the low end of the 20-25 years called for in a plea agreement, in which Chauvin will serve the federal sentence at the same time he serves his 22.5-year sentence on state charges of murder and manslaughter.
Because of differences in parole eligibility in the state and federal systems, it means that Chauvin will serve slightly more time behind bars than he would have on the state sentence alone.
He will also do his time in the federal system, where he may be safer and may be held under fewer restrictions than in the state system.
Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson, had asked for 20 years, arguing that Chauvin was remorseful and would make that clear to the court.
However, Chauvin, in brief remarks, made no direct apology nor expression of remorse to Mr Floyd's family.
Instead, he told the family that he wishes Mr Floyd's children "all the best in their life" and that they have "excellent guidance in becoming good adults".
In entering his federal plea last year, Chauvin for the first time admitted that he kept his knee on Mr Floyd's neck — even as the black man pleaded, "I can't breathe", and then became unresponsive — killing Mr Floyd.
Chauvin admitted he wilfully deprived Mr Floyd of his right to be free from unreasonable seizure, including unreasonable force by a police officer.
The judge has not set sentencing dates for the three other officers who were on the scene: Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane were convicted in February of federal civil rights charges.
Lane is also due to be sentenced on September 21, 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 October 24 on aiding and abetting charges.
AP/ABC
