Former police officer who kneeled on George Floyd's back sentenced to 3.5 years in prison

The former police officer who kneeled on George Floyd’s back has been sentenced to a little over three years in prison, AP News reports.

As former officer Derek Chauvin placed his knee on Floyd’s neck, J. Alexander Kueng held the same position on his back, ultimately killing the Minneapolis native. In October, Kueng pleaded guilty to a state count of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. Due to his plea, the charge was dropped. He is currently serving a federal sentence for the violation of Floyd’s civil rights and now, in addition to the time already served, the ex-cop will also carry out a lower state sentence for manslaughter.

When given the opportunity to address the court on Friday (Dec. 9), Kueng declined. Floyd’s family members also passed on their right to make victim impact statements, however, Attorney Ben Crump spoke on their behalf prior to the hearing, noting that the sentencing “delivers yet another piece of justice for the Floyd family.” “While the family faces yet another holiday season without George, we hope that moments like these continue to bring them a measure of peace, knowing that George’s death was not in vain,” Crump continued.

As previously reported by REVOLT, Chauvin was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison this past summer. The verdict came roughly seven months after his guilty plea to federal charges that he violated Floyd’s civil rights. At the time, federal prosecutors were aiming for the former cop to serve 25 years, citing that he abused his authority as a police officer when he knelt on Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes, ultimately killing him during an attempted arrest on May 25, 2020.

Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, spoke out in court prior to Chauvin’s sentencing and pushed for him to receive the maximum sentence. He also expressed that he has not had any real sleep since his brother was “murdered in broad daylight.”