The sentencing of Derek Chauvin to 22 ½ years in prison on Friday for the murder of George Floyd elicited a number of responses, many of which were of disappointment that the former Minneapolis policeman was not sentenced to the maximum.

Judge Peter Cahill followed Minnesota sentencing guidelines in giving Chauvin prison time for second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. But there are those who felt that because of the egregious nature of his crime, he should have been given far more time behind bars.

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King III was dissatisfied and tweeted his dismay when Cahill handed down the sentence.

‘The world was watching today as #DerekChauvin was sentenced. Unfortunately, what he received today fell short of what true justice would look like for Mr. Floyd and his family. Full Accountability is key to creating an unbiased justice system…DISAPPOINTED!’

‘Television judge Greg Mathis was clearly displeased and released this video after hearing the sentence.’

These are my thoughts on the sentence given to Derek Chauvin today.

Another popular TV judge, Glenda Hatchett, tweeted about the disparity in the sentence for the officer who shot and killed Philando Castile. She represented his family when the suburban Minneapolis policeman shot him to death while in the passenger seat of his car in 2016.

Pleased that Chauvin was found guilty but so much work yet to be done !!! Let us not forget that the officer who killed Philando Castile in Minnesota got zero sentence- never found guilty and got separation pay after sitting at home on paid leave for some ten months!!

Tina Knowles Lawson, comparing Chauvin’s sentence to that of her nephew on a marijuana conviction called for change in the system.

Filmmaker Ava DuVernay made it simple: She called Chauvin a murderer.

‘Derek Chauvin is a murderer.

A murderer who watched multiple people plead for the life of the man he killed in broad daylight.

A murderer who placed the full weight of his body on another human being’s neck and felt the life drain out of him.

Derek Chauvin is a murderer’.