Three former Minneapolis police officers have been found guilty of civil rights violations against George Floyd.
Three former Minneapolis police officers who were present at George Floyd’s death have been found guilty of breaching his civil rights.
Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane, former Minneapolis police officers, will be sentenced at a later date for their roles in the murder of George Floyd by convicted murderer Derek Chauvin.
The jury, made up of four men and eight women, found the three men guilty of depriving George Floyd of his civil rights by “showing purposeful indifference to his medical needs” on May 25, 2020, while Derek Chauvin fatally placed his knee on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes. In addition, Thao and Kueng were found guilty of failing to interfere to prevent Chauvin from killing Floyd.
Lane was able to avoid this extra allegation because he testified that he told Derek Chauvin twice during the trial to reposition George Floyd when he was restrained, but Chauvin ignored him both times.
According to the Department of Justice, Thao, Kueng, and Lane now face a sentence that “is punishable by a range of imprisonment up to a life term, or the death penalty, depending upon the circumstances of the crime, and the resulting injury, if any,” and that “is punishable by a range of imprisonment up to a life term, or the death penalty, depending upon the circumstances of the crime, and the resulting injury, if any.”
The allegations against Kueng and Lane, both rookie policemen, stem from the fact that they restrained George Floyd’s torso and legs while Thao remained nearby and kept onlookers at bay.
