Three former Minneapolis police officers were convicted Thursday of violating the civil rights of George Floyd, according to acting U.S. Attorney Charles Kovats.
A federal grand jury found J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas K. Lane, and Tou Thao guilty of depriving Floyd’s right to medical care when fellow former officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes during an arrest in May 2020 that led to his death, according to the Associated Press. Lane and Thao were also convicted of failing to intervene to stop Chauvin as Floyd, a black man whose death inspired a summer of racial justice protests, said he could not breathe and lost consciousness.
Kueng, Lane, and Thao had pleaded not guilty to the charges, but the jury rejected their defense arguments, which included claims of being improperly trained and lacking experience.
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Chauvin, who is white, pleaded guilty to federal charges in December that he abused his position of power to violate Floyd’s civil rights. He was previously convicted earlier in the year in April on state murder and manslaughter charges, receiving a 22 1/2 year sentence behind bars.
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Kueng, Lane, and Thao, who remain free on bond pending sentencing in the federal case, also face state charges alleging that they aided and abetted murder. That trial is set to begin in June.
