3 Former Minneapolis Police Officers Convicted of Violating George Floyd's Civil Rights

From left, former Minneapolis police officers J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao.Photo: AP/Shutterstock

Kueng and Thao each faced an additional charge of failing to intervene as Chauvin harmed Floyd, on which they were also found guilty.

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“Today’s guilty verdicts should serve as the guiding example of why police departments across America should expand and prioritize instruction on an officer’s duty to intervene and recognize when a fellow officer is using excessive force,” wrote the George Floyd legal team in a statement Thursday. “With that being said, the existing policies were not on trial; rather, on trial were the human beings present when the breath was taken from an unarmed man right in front of them.”

Chauvin pleaded guilty in December to related federal charges of violating Floyd’s civil rights, months after hisconvictionin state court for killing Floyd resulted in asentenceof 22 and a half years in prison.

Kueng, Lane and Thao also all face trial on state charges for aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s case. All have pleaded not guilty to those charges.

George Floyd.

Lane, Kueng and Thao failed to help Floyd “contrary to their training, contrary to common sense and contrary to basic human dignity,” prosecutor Manda Sertich said in her closing argument Tuesday, reports theAssociated Press.

“Officer Chauvin is not ordering these defendants around, he barely talks to them,” she said.

Lane and Kueng had been the first to respond to the 911 call reporting that a customer, later identified as Floyd, had tried to pass the allegedly fake bill.

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.

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Once Chauvin arrived, he put Floyd on the pavement, where Chauvin pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as Floyd repeatedly cried out and then became unresponsive.

Derek Chauvin in court June 25, 2021, at his sentencing.ALEX LEDERMAN/AFP via Getty

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.”

Chauvin’s guilty plea to the federal charges averted a second trial for him after his April 2021 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 pled guilty to one count of violating the person’s civil rights in each of those two federal cases, 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 murder conviction — but lasting up to 30 months longer.

Sentencing on the civil rights convictions for Kueng, Lane and Thao will take place at a later date.

source: people.com