by AMY FORLITI, STEVE KARNOWSKI, and TAMMY WEBBER
Associated Press
stone. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Three former Minneapolis police officers were convicted Feb. 24 of violating the civil rights of George Floyd as a federal jury rejected their arguments that The distraction of inexperienced, poorly trained or shouting bystanders prevented them from preventing Floyd from being killed.
Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane were found guilty of depriving Floyd of his medical rights after the 46-year-old black man was handcuffed and pressed face down under Officer Derek Chauvin’s knee 9 1 /2min Streets on May 25, 2020. Kueng knelt on Floyd’s back, Lane held his leg, and Thao asked bystanders to step back.
Thao and Kueng were also convicted of failing to intervene to stop Chauvin’s involvement in the videotaped killings that sparked protests in Minneapolis and around the world, as part of a reckoning over racial injustice.
Floyd’s brother Philonise Floyd called the verdict “accountability” but added: “There can never be justice because I can never get George back”
Floyd’s cousin Brandon Williams said he hoped the sentence would change laws and policies to “protect people from these situations.” He also said the results “send a message that if you murder or use excessive or lethal force, there will be consequences.”
Lane shook his head and looked at his lawyer as the verdict was read, according to a pool report. Tao and Kun showed no apparent emotion. Their lawyers subsequently declined to comment immediately.
Acting U.S. Attorney Charles Kovats called the convictions a reminder that all sworn law enforcement officers have an obligation to intervene.
“These officials have a moral duty, a legal duty and a duty to intervene, and if they don’t, they commit a crime,” Kovacs said.
Chauvin and Thao went to the scene to help rookies Kueng and Lane after they got a call that Floyd had used a counterfeit $20 bill at the corner store. Floyd got into an argument with police when they tried to put Floyd into a police SUV.
In the month-long federal trial, prosecutors sought to prove the officers violated their training, including that they did not move Floyd or give him CPR. Prosecutors argued that Floyd was so ill that even bystanders with no basic medical training could tell he needed help, but police “choose to do nothing.”
The defense said they were under-trained. Both Kueng and Lane said they had Chauvin at the scene as a senior officer. Shao testified that he relied on other officers to attend to Floyd’s medical needs because his attention was elsewhere.
After about two days of deliberation, an all-white jury reached its verdict. Lane is white, Kueng is black and Thao is Hmong American.
The former officer remains free on bail and has not yet been charged. Convictions of causing death for violating federal civil rights carry life sentences or even the death penalty, but such sentences are extremely rare.
Chauvin, who is white, was convicted of murder in state court last year and pleaded guilty in a federal case in December. He was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison in the state case. Under the plea agreement in the federal case, the two sides agreed that Chauvin should face 20 to 25 years in prison.
Lane, Kueng and Thao also face trial in June on another state charge, accusing them of aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter.
