Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced on Friday to 22.5 years for the murder of George Floyd, a death that touched off international outrage.
Chauvin showed no reaction as the verdict was announced by Judge Peter Cahill.
Reaction outside the courthouse, where about a hundred people gathered was muted at first, then turned a little more hostile. Chauvin could have been sentenced to as many as 40 years in prison and the prosecution had requested 30 years.
"I thought it was going to be 40," said Ashley Dorelus between sobs. "I thought they were going to give us a little bit of hope." Dorelus said she flew from her home in California for a month to watch the trial, even though no spectators were allowed.
The sentencing was, she said, "white privilege at its finest."
Floyd family attorney Benjamin Crump said the sentence was "historic", the longest prison sentence ever for a Minnesota police officer, and that it would bring the nation "one step closer to healing by delivering closure and accountability."
The sentencing was emotional at times.
