An ex-police officer from Minneapolis was convicted of aiding George Floyd’s murder.
This occurred after he held back bystanders, while his fellow officers restrained the ailing George Floyd.
Tou Thao, the above-mentioned ex-Minneapolis law enforcement officer who had previously been found guilty in federal court of violating Floyd’s civil rights, has declined a plea deal.
He was the final of the four former law enforcement personnel on trial in state court for the killing of Floyd.
Instead of holding a trial, he gave Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill the authority to decide the case based on the arguments made in the parties’ written files and the evidence presented in prior proceedings.
BREAKING: Tou Thao, the police officer who was on the scene during George Floyd’s murder, has been found guilty of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
Thao watched as Floyd slowly died, and did nothing to stop it. He held back concerned bystanders and prevented an… pic.twitter.com/F5MP4l1yfi— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) May 2, 2023
He handed in a 177-page judgment late on Monday, and it was made available in public on Tuesday.
“Based on his training, Thao was actively aware that the restraint he witnessed grossly deviated from the standard of care, was extremely dangerous, and risked Floyd’s death.”
Cahill wrote in his decision, pointing out that Thao’s actions were against the law.
In light of all the other considerations, he asserted that Thao’s actions were entirely unreasonable from the perspective of a fair law enforcement officer, presenting evidence that goes beyond the realm of reasonable doubt.
Despite having more than nine years of experience, the prosecution argued in court documents submitted in January that Thao acted cowardly, lacked empathy, and disregarded what he had been taught while able to see Floyd’s life slip away.
Floyd, a black man, died on May 25, 2020, after being restrained to the sidewalk for almost 10 minutes by white police officer Derek Chauvin, who pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck in order to pin him down on the ground.
Eyewitnesses’ video footage showed Floyd’s dying pleas of “I can’t breathe.” The killing of Floyd triggered protests and generated a global conversation about racism, discrimination and police abuse.
The senior officer at the scene, Chauvin, was convicted of murder and manslaughter in April 2021. Later, he entered into a plea bargain in the federal case.
Thao, along with two extra police officers, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng, have pleaded guilty to manslaughter and were subsequently judged guilty by the court system as well.
