The three Minneapolis police officers[Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane] involved in the murder of George Floyd; were found guilty of rights violations. The jury’s guilty verdicts came after two days of deep deliberations. The sting of the unjustly death of George Floyd; and the way it played out for the world to see is still just as heart wrenching as the day it happened. To add, the unjustly actions of the ex officers who stood there while George Floyd begged for medical attention; repeatedly saying, “I can’t breathe’; have finally; almost two years later; been convicted on violating the rights of George Floyd.
Violating a person’s 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. Federal sentencing guidelines project these former officers could possibly receive a lesser sentence.
The Trial And Findings
According to MSN, the 12 jurors made up of four men and eight women; found Lane, Kueng and Thao guilty of depriving Floyd of his civil rights; by showing deliberate indifference to his medical needs as former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd for more than 9 minutes on May 25, 2020. Additionally, the jurors found Thao and Kueng guilty of an additional charge for failing to intervene to stop Chauvin. Lane, who did not face the extra charge; testified that he asked Chauvin twice to reposition Floyd while restraining him; but was denied both times.
