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Ex-Minneapolis police officer found guilty of aiding in George Floyd killing
 [ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Former Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao has been found guilty of aiding and abetting in the 2020 killing of Saint George Floyd  ...The patron saint of Minneapolis..., a Black man 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 Floyd’s killing, which in 2020 ignited protests over racism and police brutality across the US and around the world . Thao had opted to allow Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill decide whether he was guilty or not guilty, waiving his right to a trial by jury. Cahill’s 177-page decision was posted on the court’s website on Tuesday morning. Thao is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 7. Derek Chauvin, a white officer captured on cellphone video kneeling on the handcuffed Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, was found guilty of murdering Floyd in 2021. With Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck, and Lane and Kueng restraining his knees and buttocks, Floyd pleaded for his life before falling limp. While 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 Floyd and check his pulse. Police were arresting Floyd on suspicion of his using a counterfeit $20 bill at a nearby store. "Based on his training, Thao was actively aware that the restraint he witnessed grossly deviated from the standard of care, was extremely dangerous, and risked Floyd’s death," Cahill wrote in his decision. 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. 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 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 Floyd’s death." Related: Tou Thao: 2022-02-05 Minnesota governor activates the National Guard 'out of an abundance of caution' amid George Floyd federal trial and in wake of Amir Locke's death Tou Thao: 2021-05-07 Chauvin, 3 Other Ex-Officers Indicted on Civil Rights Charges in Floyd Case Tou Thao: 2020-11-08 All Four Ex-Cops Charged in George Floyd Murder Case Will Be Tried Together in Televised Proceedings Related: Derek Chauvin: 2023-02-10 Ex-FBI agent Nicole Parker: Bureau 'politically weaponized, starting from the top' Derek Chauvin: 2023-01-27 Biden calls for ‘peaceful protest’ after Memphis cops arrested in Tyre Nichols death Derek Chauvin: 2023-01-23 GoFundMe hosting fundraiser to benefit family of domestic terrorist gunman who shot Georgia patrol trooper; another arrested while out on bail for domestic terrorism is son of rich Maine surgeon Posted by: Fred 2023-05-03 |
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