Three former Minneapolis police officers were convicted Thursday of violating George Floyd’s civil rights by a federal jury in Minnesota.
- Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane were convicted of depriving Floyd of his right to medical care when he lost a pulse.
- Thao and Kueng were also convicted for failing to intervene to stop former officer Derek Chauvin as he pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes.
- Thao had stood nearby, keeping the bystanders away, as the incident occurred. Kueng and Lane helped Chauvin restrain Floyd.
During the monthlong trial, prosecutors said that the officers violated their training and Thao and Keung “chose to do nothing,” even when Floyd's condition was serious, according to ABC News. Defense, on the other hand, said their training was inadequate, as Kueng and Lane deferred to Chauvin as the senior officer.
- Chauvin was sentenced to 22 1⁄2 years in prison for the killing of George Floyd last year.
- The jury, made up of eight women and four men, agreed with the prosecution’s arguments, making it the first time law enforcement agents have been charged with failing to intervene.
- Violating civil rights “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,” according to the Department of Justice.
Currently, the three men are free on bond, as the pre-sentencing procedures start next week.
Christy E. Lopez, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, has worked with police departments on training officers. She said that this verdict could change how officers are properly trained, per The New York Times.
- “It forces you to move beyond the bad apple narrative,” Lopez said, adding, “Now you’re like, ‘Oh, everyone on the scene played a role in this.’ It shifts the entire narrative from misconduct being about just acts of commission to misconduct also being about acts of omission.”