(St. Paul) The last two Minneapolis police officers convicted of violating the civil rights of George Floyd in his May 2020 murder were sentenced to three and three-and-a-half years in prison, respectively Federal, Wednesday.
Posted at 2:24 p.m.
The judge indicated that these sentences were adequate in this case which provoked numerous demonstrations all over the world to denounce the fate which was reserved for the African-American man.
Ex-agent J. Alexander Kueng received a three-year sentence, while his colleague Tao Thao will serve a three-and-a-half-year sentence behind bars. They had both been found guilty of two counts relating to the violation of the rights of George Floyd in federal court last February.
The jury had found that the two officers failed to provide medical aid to George Floyd and failed to stop Derek Chauvin from resting his knee on the 46-year-old’s neck for more than nine minutes.
Both officers scored a victory last week when a new ruling affected the calculation of their federal sentences. The ruling – which allowed their crimes to be equated to manslaughter rather than murder – saw them appear for Wednesday’s hearings with a recommended sentence of four to five years. Before this change, they might have been sentenced to life.
Officers Kueng and Thao will return to court, this time in state court, on October 24 to face charges of accessory to second-degree murder and manslaughter.
While Officer Chauvin held George Floyd to the ground with his knee, Officer Kueng pressed on his back and Officer Thomas Lane held his feet. Agent Thao was busy keeping passers-by away from the scene during the intervention.
The federal government filed charges relating to the violation of the rights of George Floyd once morest the four police officers in May 2021, a month following Derek Chauvin was convicted of second degree murder, third degree murder and manslaughter in the second degree.
Derek Chauvin, who pleaded guilty last year to violating Floyd’s civil rights and those of a teenager in another unrelated case, was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison.
He had also been sentenced to 22 and a half years in state prison in addition to his federal sentence. Both sentences are served simultaneously.
Constable Lane, who twice asked if George Floyd should be lying on his side so he might breathe, was found guilty on a single count and was sentenced last week to two years and half of jail. George Floyd’s brother, Philonise, called the sentence “insulting”.
Constable Lane also pleaded guilty to a state charge of accessory to second-degree homicide and is awaiting sentencing in that case. He was allowed to remain free on bail following his federal conviction.