George Floyd, 46, was killed during police arrest in May 2020.
Saint Paul, USA:
A grand jury found three former Minneapolis police officers on Thursday guilty of violating the civil rights of George Floyd, the African-American man whose murder in May 2020 sparked protests across the country. nationwide.
Tou Thao, 36 years old; J. Alexander Kueng, 28 years old; and Thomas Lane, 38 years old; was convicted after a month-long federal trial in Saint Paul, Minneapolis’ sister city, for showing “deliberate indifference” to Floyd’s medical needs.
Thao and Kueng were also found guilty of failing to intervene to prevent the use of “unreasonable force” against Floyd by a fourth officer, Derek Chauvin.
Chauvin, who knelt on handcuffed Floyd’s neck for nearly 10 minutes until he lost consciousness and died, was found guilty of murder last year and is serving 22 years in prison.
Floyd’s arrest and death, captured in a viral video by a bystander, sparked months of protests against racial injustice and police brutality in the United States and around the world. gender.
A jury of eight women and four men deliberated for 13 hours over two days before finding the three former officers guilty of all the charges against them.
Lane does not face a second charge for not interfering. Video of the arrest shows him on two occasions offering to topple Floyd on his side.
– Still facing state charges –
Thao, Kueng, Lane and Chauvin are employees involved in the arrest of Floyd, 46, for allegedly using a fake $20 bill to buy a pack of cigarettes.
While Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck, Kueng lay on his back and Lane held his legs. Thao prevented bystanders who were begging Chauvin to get out of the clearly distressed Floyd.
During the final argument before the grand jury, prosecutor Manda Sertich said all three officers “knew that George Floyd was not breathing, had no pulse, and was dying.”
“Make no mistake, this is a crime,” Sertich said.
Lawyers for Kueng and Lane stressed that the two officers had only been on the job for a few days and deferred to Chauvin, a nearly 20-year veteran and senior officer at the scene.
Lane’s defense also noted that he asked Kueng to check Floyd’s pulse and perform CPR after the ambulance arrived.
Thao, Hmong-American, Kueng, black, and Lane, white, still face Minnesota charges related to Floyd’s death in a trial scheduled to begin on the 13th. /6.
But in a sign of the importance of the case, federal prosecutors also charged the officers with violating Floyd’s constitutional rights.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a press release)
