From left, former Minneapolis police officers J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao.Photo: AP/Shutterstock
Three former Minneapolis police officers charged with roles in the 2020 death ofGeorge Floydare getting their day in court as testimony began Monday on federal civil rights charges alleging they failed to intervene asanother officer murdered him.
The three officers — J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao — all have pleaded not guilty to thefederal charges.
A fourth former officer, Derek Chauvin,pleaded guilty last monthto related federal charges of violating Floyd’s civil rights. Chauvin already isserving more than 20 yearsafter his conviction on state charges for the murder of Floyd in police custody.
Then-officers Lane and Kueng were first to respond on May 25, 2020, to a 911 call reporting that a customer, later identified as Floyd, had tried to use an allegedly counterfeit $20 bill at a corner Minneapolis market.
They located Floyd in the driver’s seat of a parked SUV. After they approached and handcuffed him, the officers tried to force Floyd into the back of a police car, to which Floyd protested, saying he was claustrophobic.
George Floyd.
Chauvin arrived and put Floyd on the pavement, where Chauvin pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as Floyd repeatedly told him “I can’t breathe” and became unresponsive.
According to thefederal indictment, “Thao and Kueng willfully failed to intervene to stop Chauvin’s use of unreasonable force, resulting in bodily injury to, and the death of, Mr. Floyd.”
Derek Chauvin in court June 25, 2021, at his sentencing.ALEX LEDERMAN/AFP via Getty
Chauvin’s guilty plea in December to the federal charges averted a second trial for him after his high-profile conviction for second- and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter of Floyd. He has not yet been sentenced on the federal charges, but could face additional prison time.
Chauvin, 45, wassentencedin June to 22.5 years in prison — or 270 months — for killing Floyd, a Black man whose death caught on viral video sparked the nation’s largest civil rights protests in decades along with continuing conversations about police brutality and racial injustice.
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Chauvin pleaded guilty to one count of violating the person’s civil rights in each case, in exchange for prosecutors' agreement to dismiss other related charges, reportedThe Washington Post.
Federal prosecutors at the time indicated they would recommend a sentence up to 25 years, to be served concurrently with Chauvin’s prison time for the state conviction — but lasting up to 30 months longer.
As with Chauvin’s criminal trial, security is high at the federal courthouse in St. Paul where Kueng, Lane and Thao are on trial, reportsMinnesota Public Radio. A jury of 18 people, which includes six alternates, was seated last week to hear the case, which U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson said is expected to last about a month, according to the outlet.
All three also still await trial on state charges for aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s case. All have pleaded not guilty to those charges.
source: people.com
