VIDEO: Bystander Officer Gets Almost 5-Year Prison Term for George Floyd’s Death

Former Minneapolis police officer sentenced for ‌aiding and abetting manslaughter in ⁣George Floyd’s killing

Former Minneapolis ‌police officer⁣ Tou Thao was sentenced on ‍Monday to ‌4-3/4 years in ‍prison for aiding and abetting manslaughter in ⁣the 2020 killing of George Floyd, a black⁣ man whose neck was pinned to‌ the ground⁣ by another officer‘s knee ⁣during​ a botched arrest.

The sentence, meted⁣ out by Hennepin County ⁣district judge Peter Cahill,​ was ​more than⁤ the 4-1/4 years requested ⁢by Minnesota⁣ attorney general Keith Ellison.

“I was hoping for a⁤ little‍ more remorse, regret, acknowledgment of some ⁣responsibility,” Cahill said before handing⁣ down the sentence.

The sentence will ⁤run concurrently with the 3-1/2 years Thao ⁤previously received on⁣ a federal conviction‌ of violating Floyd’s civil‍ rights.

Cahill in May found Thao guilty of one count of aiding and abetting manslaughter in the second degree ‍for his role in Floyd’s death. Thao, a⁢ nine-year ‌veteran of the police force, was the‌ fourth and final officer sentenced in ⁣the killing.

“I‍ didn’t intend ‍on doing any malice or … try to ⁣hurt‍ anyone.‌ That was never‍ my intent. I did the best that I thought I‍ could,” Thao ⁣said in ⁢court before he​ was⁣ sentenced.

Derek Chauvin, a white officer ‍ captured on cellphone ‌video kneeling on Floyd’s neck for ⁤more than nine minutes on⁣ May ‍25, 2020, was found guilty of murder in 2021. Thao held back a ⁣small crowd of bystanders while Chauvin and two other officers were subduing Floyd, who ‍police suspected⁣ of using ‌a counterfeit $20‌ bill at a nearby store.

The killing ignited‍ a wave of protests over‌ racism and​ police brutality across ‌the United​ States and around the world.

Lawyers for Thao did​ not​ immediately‌ respond to​ requests for comment on Monday.

Other⁤ officers involved ⁤in⁢ the incident

• Thomas Lane ⁣and J. Alexander Kueng restrained Floyd’s‍ knees and buttocks while Chauvin knelt on his neck.
• Lane and Kueng ‍pleaded guilty in state court to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. Lane was sentenced to 3-1/2 years‌ in prison. ⁤Kueng was sentenced to three years.
• At a federal trial, Kueng ‍and Lane were also found‍ guilty of violating Floyd’s civil rights. ⁤Lane was sentenced to 2-1/2 years‍ and Kueng to three ‍years in federal ⁣prison, to run concurrently with the state sentence.

Chauvin was sentenced to 22-1/2 years in state prison for the unintentional second-degree murder of ⁣Floyd. Last⁣ year, he received a concurrent sentence of ‍21 years in prison on federal charges ⁤of violating⁢ Floyd’s​ civil rights.

(Reporting by Brendan ‍O’Brien ⁣in Chicago;⁢ Editing by Will Dunham ⁢and ‌Grant McCool)