By Lauren Victoria Burke
NNPA Newswire Contributor
On Feb. 24 in a St. Paul, Minneapolis federal courthouse, a jury convicted Tou Thao, 36; Alex Kueng, 28; and Thomas Lane, 38, of violating the constitutional rights of George Perry Floyd, Jr.
This case is likely the first time in history that a federal court has charged police officers for failing to intervene when witnessing police brutality by another officer.
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was killed by former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin. Floyd’s killing was captured on video by a teenage bystander, Darnella Frazier. What resulted was worldwide attention on police brutality, the general treatment of Black people in the U.S. and a “racial reckoning” that broadened the conversation in support of equal rights.
In 2021, Chauvin was convicted of murder and sentenced to 22 and a half years behind bars.
Former officers Kueng and Lane are seen on the video actively assisting in the restraint of Floyd after he was handcuffed and face-down on the pavement of a Minneapolis street.
The prosecution argued that the officers knew that Floyd was in medical trouble and did nothing though they had a duty to act.
Attorneys for the three officers argued that the three more junior officers trusted Chauvin and were not aware that what he was doing was illegal.
After a month-long trial, the jury took 13-hours to deliver a decision. In addition to violating Floyd’s civil rights, Keung and Tao were also found guilty for refusing to stop Chauvin as he brutally killed Floyd using undue force. Lane was not included on that charge.
“The Justice Department will continue to seek accountability for law enforcement officers whose actions, or failure to act, violate their constitutional duty to protect the civil rights of our citizens,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement on Feb. 24.
“George Floyd should be alive today,” he added.
Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist and the host of the podcast BURKEFILE. She is a political analyst who appears regularly on #RolandMartinUnfiltered. She may be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on Twitter at @LVBurke
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