A former police officer in the US city of Minneapolis has been found guilty of aiding and abetting in the 2020 killing of George Floyd, whose death at the hands of police set off mass racial justice protests across the United States.
Tou Thao, who already had been convicted in federal court of violating Floyd’s civil rights, was the last of the four former officers facing judgment in state court over the killing.
He rejected a plea agreement and, instead of going to trial, let Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill decide the verdict based on written filings by each side and evidence presented in previous cases. Cahill’s Monday ruling was released on Tuesday.
Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis officer captured on video kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes while he gasped for air and repeated, “I can’t breathe”, was found guilty of murdering Floyd in 2021.
With Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck during the fatal arrest on May 25, 2020, Lane and Kueng restrained his knees and buttocks