All Four Former Police Officers Involved In The Killing Of George Floyd To Be Charged
Three more former Minnesota police officers will be charged in the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who died after an officer kneeled on his neck for nine minutes during an arrest.
The office of Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison plans to charge Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J Alexander Kueng on Wednesday with aiding and abetting Floyd’s murder, according to reporting by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that HuffPost confirmed with a law enforcement source.
The Hennepin County prosecutor had already arrested Derek Chauvin, the former police officer seen kneeling on Floyd’s neck, last week, charging him with third-degree murder and manslaughter. Ellison’s office is also planning to announce that it would be upgrading the third-degree murder charge to second-degree murder.
Minnesota governor Tim Walz tapped Ellison, a former progressive congressman and civil rights attorney, on Sunday to take over the case from Hennepin County prosecutor Mike Freeman. Walz said he made the decision to put Ellison in charge after consulting with Floyd’s family.
Floyd was killed on May 25 after the officers arrested him for allegedly attempting to make a purchase at a store with a fraudulent $20 bill. As seen in horrifying video of Floyd’s arrest, Chauvin used his knee to hold Floyd down by the neck even as Floyd pleaded: “Please, man, I can’t breathe.”
Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd, who was apparently in handcuffs, even after he stopped speaking and moving. He remained there as onlookers shouted at other officers to attend to Floyd.
In another video, three other officers can be seen crowding around Floyd, who is on the floor, during the arrest.
According to the Minneapolis Police Department, Floyd was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at a hospital.
Floyd’s death, like other police killings of Black men, has sparked days of protests and public outcry in Minneapolis and across the US.
Chauvin, Thao, Lane and Keung were fired, but protesters and...
