2 ex-cops sentenced to prison for violating George Floyd's civil rights
Former Minneapolis police officers J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao were sentenced on Wednesday to three and 3.5 years in prison, respectively, after they were found guilty of violating George Floyd's civil rights, NBC News reports.
Both men are also required to complete two years of supervised release once their sentences conclude. The pair was originally convicted in February of violating Floyd's rights by failing to provide medical aid as well as intervene while former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck, ultimately killing him. His death served as the catalyst for racial justice and police brutality protests in the summer of 2020.
Both Keung and Thao still face charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter on a state level. That trial is scheduled for October.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
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.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
George Floyd's girlfriend said she thought Thao "showed no remorse. Not even a bit," and told NBC News she was disappointed in the pair's sentences.
Chauvin, meanwhile, has been sentenced to 21 years in federal prison for violating Floyd's civil rights, and will serve that time concurrently with the 22.5-year sentence he received after being found guilty of second- and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter at the state level.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
Political cartoons for November 3Cartoons Monday’s political cartoons include GOP gifts for billionaires, AI taking jobs from Americans, a ghost of Trump's past, and more
-
What India’s World Cup win means for women’s cricketIn The Spotlight The landmark victory could change women’s cricket ‘as we know it’
-
Can Nigel Farage and Reform balance the books?Today's Big Question Nigel Farage has, for the first time, ‘articulated something resembling a fiscal rule’ that he hopes will win over voters and the markets
-
France makes first arrests in Louvre jewels heistSpeed Read Two suspects were arrested in connection with the daytime theft of royal jewels from the museum
-
Trump pardons crypto titan who enriched familySpeed Read Binance founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to enabling money laundering while CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange
-
Thieves nab French crown jewels from LouvreSpeed Read A gang of thieves stole 19th century royal jewels from the Paris museum’s Galerie d’Apollon
-
Arsonist who attacked Shapiro gets 25-50 yearsSpeed Read Cody Balmer broke into the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion and tried to burn it down
-
Man charged over LA’s deadly Palisades Firespeed read 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht has been arrested in connection with the fire that killed 12 people
-
4 dead in shooting, arson attack in Michigan churchSpeed Read A gunman drove a pickup truck into a Mormon church where he shot at congregants and then set the building on fire
-
2 kids killed in shooting at Catholic school massSpeed Read 17 others were wounded during a morning mass at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murdersspeed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
