Reaction pours in after Chauvin’s mom gives emotional speech — without mention of Floyd

Reaction on social media poured in as Derek Chauvin’s mother, Carolyn Pawlenty, spoke before the court for the first time as her son awaited sentencing following his murder conviction.

Chauvin was sentenced to 270 months in prison — 22.5 years — with 199 days already served.

Pawlenty was called by the defense to speak after the state presented victim impact statements from the family of George Floyd. Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering Floyd, was found guilty in April of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Pawlenty said she believes in her son’s “innocence” and urged leniency at his sentencing, saying that he is a “good man.”

“Derek, I want you to know I’ve always believed in your innocence,” she continued. “And I will never waver from that.”

Reactions poured in about Pawlenty’s statement, pointing out that she didn’t mention Floyd in her speech.

Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died while in police custody on May 25, 2020, and his death sparked an avalanche of protests across the nation. He died after Chauvin pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as three other officers did not intervene.

Floyd’s brother, Terrence Floyd, delivered an emotional statement at the sentencing hearing, asking Chauvin why he didn’t lift his knee from his brother’s neck.

“Over this last year and months, I actually talked to a few people and I wanted to know from the man himself ‘Why?’ What were you thinking? What was going through your head when you had your knee on my brother’s neck?” Terrence Floyd said to Chauvin. “When you knew that he posed no threat anymore, he was handcuffed, why didn’t you at least get up?”

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