A judge sentenced former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin to 22-1/2 years in prison on Friday for the murder of George Floyd during an arrest in May 2020, video of which galvanized a national protest movement against racism, Reuters reported.

A jury found Chauvin, who is white, guilty on April 20 of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of Floyd, a Black man.

Chauvin's sentence was one of the longest given a former police officer for using unlawful deadly force in the United States, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office prosecuted the case, told reporters. Successful prosecutions of police officers in such cases have been rare.

At the White House, U.S. President Joe Biden, who has spoken several times with the Floyd family, said the sentence seemed appropriate.

Both Floyd's brother Rodney and his nephew Brandon Williams criticized the sentence as a "slap on the wrist."

"We were served a life sentence," Williams said outside the courthouse. "We can't get George back."