A federal judge convicted the former officer, J. Alexander Kueng, after a jury convicted him earlier this year of failing to render medical aid to Mr. Floyd or to intervene when another officer, Derek Chauvin, put pressure on his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes. The death of Mr. Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, sparked protests against police abuse and racism across the country in the spring and summer of 2020, involving millions of Americans. Mr. Kueng, 28, who is black, was by Mr. Chauvin’s side for much of the encounter and put his knee on Mr. Floyd for several minutes as Mr. Floyd begged for air and eventually lost consciousness. Judge Paul Magnuson, who has overseen the federal case against the four former Minneapolis police officers involved in Mr. Floyd’s death — all of whom were fired — handed down Mr. Kueng’s sentence in federal court in St. Louis. Paul.
Understand the trials that have arisen from the death of George Floyd
Card 1 of 5 Four defendants. Along with Mr. Chauvin, three other officers were charged with playing a role in Mr. Floyd’s death. Tou Thao, a veteran officer who was Mr. Chauvin’s partner, was holding back a group of bystanders. J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane helped locate Mr. Floyd. The four men have been involved in several proceedings. Mr. Chauvin’s criminal trial. In April 2021, a jury in state court found Mr. Chauvin, who is white, guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. In June 2021, he was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison. appealed against his conviction. A second criminal trial. Mr. Kueng, Mr. Lane and Mr. Thao were scheduled to go on trial on June 13 on charges of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and second-degree murder in Mr. Floyd’s death. On May 18, Mr. Lane pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in state court. The trial of the remaining two officers was later adjourned. Manda Sertich, a federal prosecutor, told the hearing that Mr Kueng did not try to help Mr Floyd when he was knocked unconscious and that Mr Keung deserved a “severe sentence”, even though he had not intended to kill Mr Floyd pass away. Later on Wednesday, Judge Magnuson was expected to sentence former officer Tou Thao, who held anxious bystanders away from Mr. Floyd as they shouted that he was in dire straits. Mr. Thao, 36, who is Asian American, and Mr. Kueng still face state charges of accessory to homicide and involuntary manslaughter and are scheduled to go to trial in January. Thomas Lane, 39, who is white and helped restrain Mr. Floyd by holding his legs, pleaded guilty to both federal charges of violating Mr. Floyd’s rights and aiding and abetting second-degree murder. He received a two-and-a-half-year federal prison sentence last week. he is scheduled to be sentenced in the state case in September. Federal prosecutors had asked the judge to jail Mr. Thao and Mr. Kueng for “significantly longer” than the six and a half years they sought in Mr. Lane’s case, but less than 20 years. On May 25, 2020, the day of Mr. Floyd’s death, officers went to a South Minneapolis street corner after an employee at a convenience store there called 911 to report that Mr. Floyd had used a counterfeit 20 dollars to buy cigarettes. When they arrived and tried to place Mr. Floyd in the back of a patrol car, he struggled with them, saying he was claustrophobic and had trouble breathing. Video taken by a bystander outside the store showing police pinning Mr. Floyd face down on the sidewalk, struggling for breath, ricocheted around the world and sparked protests against police brutality and racial injustice.
