Alexander Kueng, Tou Thao and Thomas Lane: Ex-cops GUILTY of violating George Floyd's rights
In a major victory for the Black Lives Matter movement, three Minneapolis police officers were found guilty in their federal hate crime trial on February 24. A jury found J Alexander Kueng, Tou Thao, and Thomas Lane guilty of depriving George Floyd of his civil rights, for not preventing Floyd's death at the hands of Derek Chauvin.
The verdict comes just two days after Ahmaud Arbery's killers were found guilty in their federal hate crime case and months after Chauvin pleaded guilty in his own hate crime trial. There are now widespread celebrations all over America, given the rarity of the conviction. It "sends a message that says, if you murder or use excessive or deadly force, there are consequences that follow," noted Floyd’s cousin Brandon Williams.
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On the day that Floyd died, the three officers reportedly did not intervene when Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd's neck and did not give him CPR after he stopped breathing. "These officers had a moral responsibility, a legal obligation, and a duty to intervene,” U.S. Attorney Charles Kovats noted, adding, "By failing to do so, they committed a crime.”
Officers found guilty
On May 25, 2020, Chauvin pressed his knee for over nine minutes on Floyd's neck, as Kueng knelt on Floyd’s back, Lane held his legs and Thao kept bystanders away. Even after Floyd died, the three did not intervene, which is what the case focused on. All three men were charged with depriving Floyd of his right to medical care. Additionally, Thao and Lane were charged with failing to intervene for not stopping Chauvin.
The trial lasted a month, with the defense arguing their training was "inadequate" and the three relied on Chauvin, who was the senior officer at the scene. They also blamed the Minneapolis Police Department and its training methods, with all three taking the stand to replay the same message. However, those arguments fell flat in front of the 12-member jury, as the prosecution argued the three "chose to do nothing", even as bystanders could see Floyd needed help. The prosecution even got a former officer in charge of training to testify, and she spent three days talking about the training all officers received.
Normally, such a guilty verdict would lead to life in prison or the death penalty, but it is unclear as of now if prosecutors will pursue such a serious sentence. Kueng, Thao, and Lane are all free on bond pending sentencing, a date for which has not yet been scheduled. Irrespective of what the judge decides, it is not the end of their legal troubles. All three men are scheduled to appear in a state trial on charges of aiding and abetting murder, which will take place in June.
Apart from the fact that all the officers who played a role in Floyd's death are guilty, the verdict has several other significant ramifications. Christy Lopez, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center told The New York Times this was the first time police officers were charged by the federal government for failing to intervene. "It shifts the entire narrative from misconduct being about just acts of commission to misconduct also being about acts of omission," she said, adding, "It forces you to move beyond the bad apple narrative."
