On Tuesday, the four former Minneapolis police officers responsible for the death of George Floyd pleaded not guilty to charges in federal court. The charges included them violating his civil rights during his arrest last May, which unfortunately led to his death.
According to CNN, J. Alexander Kueng, Tou Thao, Thomas Lane, and Derek Chauvin, appeared via video conference where they were arraigned before US District Magistrate Judge Tony N. Leung. As we previously reported, back in May the federal grand jury indicted them for violating George’s constitutional rights.
The indictment stated that Chauvin had prevented George from his right to be free from “unreasonable seizure, which includes the right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a police officer.” Thao and Kueng were charged for failing to intervene with Chauvin’s excessive force. All of the former officers were also faced with a charge for failing to provide George with medical assistance.
The indictment continued to state, “The defendants saw George Floyd lying on the ground in clear need of medical care, and willfully failed to aid Floyd, thereby acting with deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of harm to Floyd.”
As many of you know, back in June Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison for the death of George Floyd. He was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.
The other three former officers have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
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TSR STAFF: Jade Ashley @Jade_Ashley94
