Ex-Minneapolis police officer found guilty of aiding in George Floyd killing

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MINNESOTA – Former Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao was found guilty on Tuesday of aiding and abetting in the 2020 killing of African American George Floyd, who died after his neck was pinned to the ground by another officer’s knee during a botched arrest. The charge against Thao, one of four officers involved in the arrest, was the final outstanding criminal case related to Mr Floyd’s killing, which ignited protests across the United States over racism and police brutality in the summer of 2020. Thao had opted to allow Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill to decide whether he was guilty or not guilty, waiving his right to a trial by jury. Derek Chauvin, an officer captured on cellphone video kneeling on the handcuffed Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, was found guilty of murdering Mr Floyd in 2021. Two other former officers, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng, pleaded guilty last year to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, the same charge Thao faced. With Chauvin kneeling on Mr Floyd’s neck, and Lane and Kueng restraining his knees and buttocks, Mr Floyd pleaded for his life before falling limp. While Mr Floyd was pinned, Thao stood to one side and kept back a small crowd of people, including an off-duty firefighter, who repeatedly yelled at the police to get off Mr Floyd and check his pulse. Police were arresting Mr Floyd on suspicion of his using a counterfeit US$20 (S$26.70) bill at a nearby store. Judge Cahill presided over jury trials for Chauvin, Lane and Kueng. In written arguments submitted to the judge in January, prosecutors from the Minnesota Attorney-General’s office said Thao, a nine-year veteran of the force, knew the deadly risks posed by the way his colleagues restrained Mr Floyd. Thao had a duty to intervene and render medical aid if needed, they said. “Thao could see Floyd’s life slowly ebbing away,” the prosecutors wrote, saying his conduct was callous. “Yet Thao made a conscious decision to actively participate in Fl