Derek Chauvin sentencing: George Floyd’s brother asks of his murderer – ‘why?’

Terrence Floyd asks court to impose maximum penalty on ex-police officer

A brother of George Floyd has tearfully asked of the police officer who murdered him: “why?”

In a victim impact statement delivered at the sentencing of Derek Chauvin, Terrence Floyd said the killing of his brother a year ago had deeply impacted him.

Struggling at times to complete his words, Mr Floyd said he and other members of his family were now part of a fraternity they would never wished to have been part of – relatives of someone killed by the police.

“This situation has really affected me and my family. Any family member who has been through this is part of a fraternity. It’s not one of those little fraternity you enjoy being a member of,” he said.

“Over the last year I’ve talked to a few people … and I wanted to know from the man himself – why?”

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Mr Floyd said he wanted to know what was going through Chauvin’s mind when he kneeled on his brother’s neck for more than nine minutes as he lay on the ground, not posing a “threat”.

“On behalf of me and my family, we seek the maximum penalty. We don’t want to see no more slaps on the wrist. We’ve been through that already ... no, no, no, no,” he said.

He also suggested that if a Black man was charged with murdering a white person, the sentence would barely be an issue of debate.

“If it was us, if the roles was reversed, there wouldn’t be no case. It would have been open and shut. We’d have been under the jail for murdering somebody. So, we ask for that same penalty for Derek Chauvin.”

Another brother, Philonise Floyd, also called on the court to sentence Chauvin to the maximum sentence possible.

“Every day, I have begged for justice to be served, reliving the execution of George while others begged and pleaded for officer Chauvin to simply just allow George to take a breath,” he said.

Mr Floyd’s nephew, Brandon Williams, had also attended the trial of Chauvin. He spoke on Friday of what his uncle’s killing had meant to him, and to others.

“Chauvin killed George, not only did he kill George, but he also displayed a total lack of consideration for human life as he did so,” he said.

“You saw it. I saw it. And millions of people across the country and the globe witnessed the act of hate.”