Derek Chauvin sentenced to 22 1/2 years in death of George Floyd

Brandon Mitchell, who served on the jury in the murder trial, reacted to the sentencing Friday night, telling ABC News Live Prime's Juju Chang that he thought the jail time would be higher.

"I think it's a little bit on the light side, but it is justice and despair," Mitchell said. "I think the judge did a great job with that. I was maybe expecting more closer to 25 to 30 [years], but 22 1/2 is still justice."

"There's no bringing them back to your loved one," Mitchell said of the Floyd family. "Their loved one is never coming back. And so for them, I feel for them. My prayers are with them and I hope that they are able to get some kind of peace from the sentencing."

Mitchell came into the spotlight last month after a photograph of him wearing a Black Lives Matter hat and shirt with a picture of Martin Luther King Jr. that said, "Get your knee off our necks," while at an August 2020 march was widely circulated on social media. Chauvin's defense included the photograph in a court filing arguing for a new trial and change of venue, alleging Mitchell "came to a verdict to further political and social causes."

Mitchell defended his impartiality as a juror after the photo's circulation and told the Star Tribune that he was "extremely honest" during the jury selection process.

Reflecting on his experience as a juror two months after the trial, Mitchell told Chang, "It just makes me take a step back and just say how important it is to be a part of a jury and just how much change that we have to do in terms of policing in the United States in general." 

"These are situations that we have to find a way to avoid and they should never happen," he said.

ABC News' Lauren Pearle, Andrea Amiel and Malka Abramoff contributed to this report.

Philonise Floyd listed the names of other Black people who lost their lives at the hands of police violence during a post-sentencing press conference.

“The legend will still live on. George isn’t here but his spirit is still here. Breonna Taylor is not here, but her spirit is still here. Eric Garner isn’t here but his spirit is still here,” he said. 

George Floyd’s other brother, Terrence Floyd, shared a message of hope. 

“We’re Floyd strong and we’re going to stay strong,” he said. 

George Floyd’s nephew Brandon Williams said during the press conference, “Twenty-two years and a half is not enough. We deserve a life sentence,” he said. 

“What kind of message are you sending to our country? ... That you can kill a man in cold blood and get a slap on the wrist? So I won’t celebrate this. I won’t celebrate it at all. But I will celebrate a guilty conviction of a police officer that killed a Black man because far too many times we see them kill us and get right away with it.”

Rodney Floyd, George Floyd’s younger brother, also criticized the sentence. 

“This right here, this 22-year sentence they gave this man, is a slap on the wrist. We’re serving a life sentence not having him in our lives. And that hurts me to death,” he said. 

Crump rallied the crowd, saying there was still a chance for Chauvin to face more prison time.

“The federal charges are still pending so I do believe ... the maximum, it is still attainable to get maximum accountability for George Floyd,” he said, launching a chant of “maximum accountability for George Floyd!”

“Let us not feel that we’re here to celebrate because justice would have been George Floyd would have never been killed, justice would have been the maximum … 22 and a half years is longer than we ever got but shorter than what we should have gotten in the past,” Sharpton said at a press conference after the sentencing. 

He was joined by civil rights attorney Ben Crump and members of Floyd’s family. Together, they shared a prayer in front of the Hennepin County courthouse. 

Biden, who was informed of the judge's decision before he sat down to meet with the Afghan president, said, “I don't know all the circumstances that were considered, but it seems to me under the guidelines, that seems to be appropriate.”

-ABC News’ Sarah Kolinovsky contributed to this report