The legal processing of the killing of African American George Floyd by the police in Minneapolis is not yet complete. Two officers now face jail for failing to provide assistance to Floyd when their colleague suffocated him on May 25, 2020.
More than two years after the killing of African American George Floyd in a police operation in the USA, two other ex-police officers involved have to go to prison: Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao were sentenced to three and three and a half years in prison in a federal court in St. Paul, Minnesota condemned, as announced by the US Department of Justice.
Thomas Lane, a third ex-police officer involved, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison last week. White ex-cop Derek Chauvin, who pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck, was sentenced to 22 years and six months for murder in a Minneapolis court. He’s already serving that sentence. Earlier this month, a federal court sentenced the 46-year-old to an additional 21 years in prison. In February, Kueng, Thao and Lane were found guilty in federal court in St. Paul of violating Floyd’s constitutional civil rights.
The ex-police officers were accused of not providing medical assistance. Kueng and Thao were also found guilty of failing to try to stop Chauvin’s use of violence. The death of African American Floyd on May 25, 2020 in a brutal police operation in Minneapolis triggered demonstrations against racism and police violence in the United States. Videos document how police officers pushed the unarmed man to the ground. Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for a good nine minutes while Floyd begged him to breathe. His colleagues Kueng, Thao and Lane did not intervene despite Chauvin’s actions. According to the autopsy, Floyd lost consciousness and died.
In April this year, an official report was published accusing the police in the US city of Minneapolis of widespread racism. In the past decade, racially based discrimination has repeatedly occurred there, according to an investigation by the Minnesota Human Rights Agency. “Minneapolis City and Police Department personnel are engaging in a pattern or practice of ethnic discrimination in violation of Minnesota human rights law,” the report said.
There are clear differences in how police officers deal with citizens, for example in traffic controls, searches or arrests, depending on whether they are white or black. Officials have used social media to monitor black individuals or organizations unrelated to criminal activity. In addition, the “constant use of racist, misogynist and disrespectful language” is documented without further consequences for the respective officials, for example by recordings from body cameras.
