Derek Chauvin deserves 'maximum sentence': Rep. Karen Bass

Rep. Karen Bass appears on ABC News' "This Week."

Former police officer Derek Chauvin deserves a "maximum sentence," Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., said Sunday on ABC's "This Week" after he was convicted in the murder of George Floyd. "When we have seen the occasional guilty verdict, it is rare followed by the maximum sentence. And considering the egregious nature of the torturing, the death of George Floyd a maximum sentence, I think, is absolutely needed," she told George Stephanopoulos. Following Chauvin’s conviction Tuesday, many politicians and activists renewed their calls for federal legislation to address police brutality in the wake of several recent shootings of unarmed people of color. Bass has introduced legislation, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, that would implement a ban on chokeholds, no-knock warrants and racial profiling by law enforcement. The bill passed the House in a party-line vote in March but has yet to be voted on in the Senate.