3 Ex Minneapolis Officers Found Guilty of Denying George Floyd of Rights

On January 24, 2022, ex- Minneapolis police officers J Alexander Keung, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao were all found guilty of denying George Floyd his constitutional right to medical treatment while in police custody. As a result, they are facing federal charges. The three men pleaded not guilty to the charges- however, the jury found that they had caused George Floyd’s death and this can play a part in their sentencing.

The day of George Floyd’s arrest and death was May 25, 2020. Floyd was originally detained by Kueng and Lane for the allegedly use of a counterfeit twenty-dollar bill. The man that directly caused the death of George Floyd, ex-officer Derek Chauvin, was seen kneeling on a handcuffed Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes. In those nine minutes, the other three officers did not object, even when Floyd was exclaiming that he could not breathe.

It was said in court that Chauvin maintained his position on Floyd’s neck while Kueng knelt on Floyd’s back, Lane held Floyd’s feet and Thao dealt with a bystander. Chauvin was convicted in 2021 and sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison after he pleaded guilty.

“The people standing by to see Officer Chauvin brought to justice breathed a collective sigh of relief with the outcome of the trial, though the punishment was arguably unfitting of the crime,” said Rebecca H., a junior at AISG.

The other three ex-officers have a good chance of facing years in prison. However, they are all currently on bail while waiting for their sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

The two responding officers, Kueng and Lane, were rookies that had only been out of training, which goes on for over a year. Officer Thao had been an active officer for eight years.

In court, a medical expert testified and stated that George Floyd would have almost certainly lived through the arrest if he had been rolled onto his side once restrained by the officers. This is something all of the officers had stated to be a part of their training.

“It looks like there’s inherent flaws within the training system if new officers are abandoning the system. Or just an anomaly,” Said Ethan Y, an AISG junior.

“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,” said George Floyd’s legal team in a statement on Thursday’s trial.

The murder of George Floyd was a key factor in protests and demonstrations all over the world that spoke out against police brutality.