Two former Minneapolis police officers were sentenced to prison on Wednesday for violating George Floyd’s civil rights during the videotaped arrest that killed him on May 25, 2020. J. Alexander Kueng received 3 years, and Tou Thao was sentenced to 3 1/2 years.
They are two of the four ex-officers previously employed by the Minneapolis Police Department who faced charges for their role in Floyd’s death. Kueng, Thao and former officer Thomas Lane were found guilty in federal court in February of constitutional violations for what the jury determined was a willful failure to provide necessary aid to Floyd during the arrest despite his obvious need for medical assistance.
Former officer Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes in the bystander video that galvanized global protests against police violence and racism after it surfaced online over two years ago, was convicted on state charges of murder and manslaughter, and then pleaded guilty last year to violating Floyd’s civil rights and the civil rights of a teenager in an unrelated case. He was recently sentenced to 21 years in federal prison.
Lane, who twice asked if Floyd should be rolled onto his side so he could breathe, was convicted of one federal count and recently sentenced to 2 1/2 years. Kueng and Thao were convicted of two counts, with the jury finding they deprived the 46-year-old Black man of medical care and failed to stop Derek Chauvin.
Lane pleaded guilty to a state charge of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter and is awaiting sentencing in that case. Kueng and Thao still face another trial, scheduled for Oct. 24, in state court, where they are charged with counts of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
