The former Minneapolis officer was sentenced to almost 5 years for Floyd’s murder

Aug 7 (Reuters) – Former Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao was sentenced on Monday to 4-3/4 years in prison for aiding and abetting manslaughter in the 2020 killing of George Floyd, a black man whose neck was pinned to the ground by another. an officer’s knee during a botched arrest.

The sentence, handed down by Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill, was more than the 4-1/4 years requested by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.

“I was hoping for a little more remorse, remorse, acknowledgment of some responsibility,” Cahill said before handing down the sentence.

The sentence will run concurrently with the 3-1/2 years Thao previously received for a federal conviction for violating Floyd’s civil rights.

Cahill found Thao guilty in May of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter for his role in Floyd’s death. Thao, a nine-year veteran of the force, was the fourth and last officer to be convicted of the murder.

“I didn’t intend to do any malice or … try to hurt anybody. That was never my intention. I did the best I thought I could,” Thao told the court before being sentenced.

Derek Chauvin, a white officer captured on cellphone video kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes on May 25, 2020, was found guilty of murder in 2021. Thao held back a small crowd of onlookers as Chauvin and two other officers were subduing Floyd. , which police suspected of using a counterfeit $20 bill at a nearby store.

The killing sparked a wave of protests over racism and police brutality in the United States and around the world.

Thao’s attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.

The other two officers at the scene, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng, held Floyd’s knees and buttocks while Chauvin knelt on his neck. Lane and Kueng pleaded guilty in state court last year to aiding and abetting second-degree murder. Lane was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison. Kueng was sentenced to three years.

At a federal trial last year, Kueng and Lane were also there found guilty of violating Floyd’s civil rights. Lane was sentenced to 2 1/2 years and Kueng to three years in federal prison, to run concurrently with the state sentence.

Chauvin was sentenced to 22 and a half years in state prison for Floyd’s second-degree manslaughter. Last year, he received a concurrent 21-year prison sentence on federal charges of violating Floyd’s civil rights.

Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Chicago; Editing by Will Dunham and Grant McCool

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