Ex-officer gets 2.5 years for violating George Floyd's civil rights

(Image credit: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

published 22 July 2022

A federal judge in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Thursday sentenced former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane to two-and-a-half years in prison for violating George Floyd's civil rights, reports The New York Times. Lane held down the unarmed Black man's legs while another officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeled on his neck, eventually killing him.

A jury found Lane guilty of violating Floyd's rights by failing to provide him with medical care, although he twice suggested rolling Floyd onto his side to help him breathe. Prosecutors had asked for the maximum sentence, with more than twice as much prison time. "It's insulting that he didn't get the maximum amount of time," said Philonise Floyd, one of Floyd's brothers. Lane is awaiting sentencing on a state manslaughter charge.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox