Officers found guilty of violating Floyd’s rights

A federal jury on Thursday found three former Minneapolis police officers guilty of depriving George Floyd of his right to medical care. The former officers testified during the civil rights trial that they deferred to Derek Chauvin as the senior officer on the scene the day George Floyd died. While Chauvin restrained Floyd on the ground during an arrest attempt on May 25, 2020, J. Alexander Kueng put his knee on Floyd’s back, Thomas Lane held his legs, and Tou Thao kept bystanders away. Prosecutors argued the three violated their training by not getting Floyd help sooner.

Will they go to jail? The federal charges against them can carry a sentence of life in prison or even death, but such sentences are extremely rare. The former officers are scheduled to be tried in June on state charges of aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter. Chauvin has already been convicted of murder, and he pleaded guilty to federal civil rights charges.

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta’s report about the federal case against Chauvin.