UNITED STATES NEWS

Ex-officer Thao convicted of aiding George Floyd’s killing

May 2, 2023, 6:21 AM | Updated: 7:34 am

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A former Minneapolis police officer who held back bystanders while his colleagues restrained a dying George Floyd has been convicted of aiding and abetting manslaughter.

Tou Thao, who already had been convicted in federal court of written filings by each side and evidence presented in previous cases. His 177-page ruling, filed Monday night, was released Tuesday.

“Thao’s actions were not authorized by law. … There is proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Thao’s actions were objectively unreasonable from the perspective of a reasonable police officer, when viewed under the totality of the circumstances,” Cahill wrote.

Prosecutors argued in their filings in January that Thao “acted without courage and displayed no compassion” despite his nearly nine years of experience, and that he disregarded his training even though he could see Floyd’s life ebbing away.

Floyd, a Black man, died May 25, 2020, after officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, pinned him to the ground with his knee on Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes. Bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s killing touched off protests around the world and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.

Chauvin, the senior officer at the scene, was convicted of murder and manslaughter in April 2021 and later pleaded guilty in the federal case. Two other officers — J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane — pleaded guilty to state charges of aiding and abetting manslaughter and were convicted with Thao in their federal case.

“The conviction of Tou Thao is historic and the right outcome,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who led the prosecution team, said in a statement. “It brings one more measure of accountability in the tragic death of George Floyd. Accountability is not justice, but it is a step on the road to justice.”

Defense attorney Robert Paule did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

“Nearly three years ago, the images of a police officer murdering George Floyd shocked the world, shattered our community, and devastated those who knew and loved him,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement. “Today, the person who aided in the murder by preventing community members from helping Mr. Floyd has been found guilty and held accountable. I hope today’s verdict is another step on the path toward healing for George Floyd’s family.”

Unlike the other three former officers, Thao maintained that he did nothing wrong. When he rejected a plea deal in state court last August, he said “it would be lying” to plead guilty.

However, prosecutor Matthew Frank wrote that Thao knew that his fellow officers were restraining Floyd in a way that was “extremely dangerous” because it could stop his breathing — “the exact condition from which Floyd repeatedly complained he was suffering.”

“Yet Thao made the conscious decision to aid that dangerous restraint: He actively encouraged the other three officers, and assisted their crime by holding back concerned bystanders,” Frank added.

Paule argued that the state had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Thao knew that Chauvin was committing a crime or that Thao intended to help in a crime.

“Every one of Thao’s actions was done based upon the training he received from the Minneapolis Police Department,” Paule wrote.

He argued that Thao “reasonably believed” that Floyd was experiencing a disputed condition known as “excited delirium” that some medical examiners have attributed as a cause of other in-custody deaths, particularly when someone has taken drugs. Paule said the actions Thao took were aimed at helping to get Floyd medical attention quickly. He said Thao was not aware that Floyd was not breathing or had no pulse.

But Frank noted that witnesses who believe excited delirium is a real condition testified previously that Floyd displayed none of the symptoms.

The judge ordered a presentence investigation and set Aug. 7 as the sentencing date. Minnesota sentencing guidelines recommend four years on the manslaughter count. He will serve his state term concurrent with his 3 1/2-year federal sentence.

The agreement between the prosecution and defense specified that if the judge convicted Thao of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, the state would drop a more serious aiding and abetting second-degree murder count with a presumptive sentence of 12 1/2 years.

Cahill based his decision on exhibits and transcripts from Chauvin’s murder trial, which he presided over, and the federal civil rights trial of Thao, Kueng and Lane last year. Thao was specifically convicted then of depriving Floyd of his right to medical care and of failing to intervene and stop Chauvin.

Thao testified during that trial that he was relying on the other officers to care for Floyd’s medical needs while he served as “a human traffic cone” to control a group of about 15 bystanders and traffic outside a Minneapolis convenience store where Floyd had tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill.

Thao told the court that when he and Chauvin arrived, the other officers were struggling with Floyd. He said it was clear to him, as the other officers tried to put Floyd into a squad car, “that he was under the influence of some type of drugs.”

His body camera video showed he told onlookers at one point, “This is why you don’t do drugs, kids.” When an off-duty, out-of-uniform Minneapolis firefighter asked if officers had checked Floyd’s pulse, he ordered her, “Back off!”

Thao acknowledged he heard onlookers becoming more anxious about Floyd’s condition and that he could hear Floyd saying, “I can’t breathe.” But Thao said he didn’t know there was anything seriously wrong with him even as an ambulance took him away.

The judge didn’t accept Thao’s claims of innocence.

“Thao was trained on MPD’s use of force and medical policies, which are consistent with generally accepted policing practices,” Cahill wrote. “Under those policies and practices, it was objectively unreasonable to (among other things): encourage fellow officers to engage in a dangerous prone restraint for 9 minutes and 24 seconds; encourage those officers not to use a hobble; actively assist their restraint by acting as a ‘human traffic cone’; and prevent bystanders from rendering medical aid. Thao’s actions were even more unreasonable in light of the fact that he was under a duty to intervene to stop the other officers’ excessive use of force and was trained to render medical aid.”

Thao is Hmong American, Kueng is Black and Lane is white.

“While we have now reached the end of the prosecution of Floyd’s murder, it is not behind us.” Ellison said. “There is much more that prosecutors, law-enforcement leaders, rank-and-file officers, elected officials, and community can do to bring about true justice in law enforcement and true trust and safety in all communities. To begin with, Congress must act: almost three years after his death, Congress has still not passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. That must change, now.” ___ For more of AP’s coverage on the death of George Floyd: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd

United States News

Associated Press

Remains found in Indiana in 1982 identified as those of Wisconsin woman who vanished at age 20

RICHMOND, Ind. (AP) — Human remains found in rural Indiana in 1982 have been identified as those of a Wisconsin woman who was 20 when she vanished more than four decades ago, authorities said. The remains are those of Connie Lorraine Christensen, who was from the Madison, Wisconsin-area community of Oregon, said Lauren Ogden, chief […]

25 minutes ago

Associated Press

Judge drops felony charges against ex-elections official in Virginia

MANASSAS, Va. (AP) — A Virginia judge has dismissed felony charges against a former county elections official accused of misconduct in the 2020 election, a decision made after state prosecutors said a key witness changed his story. At the prosecutors’ request, the judge on Friday dismissed a felony charge of corrupt conduct and one for […]

2 hours ago

Philadelphia police officers outside of the Macy's in Center City after reports of an alleged stabb...

Associated Press

Man suspected of shoplifting stabs 2 security guards at Philadelphia store, killing 1

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A man who had tried to steal merchandise from a department store in Philadelphia returned 15 minutes later and stabbed two security guards, killing one and injuring the other, city police said. The attack at the Macy’s store occurred shortly after 11 a.m. Monday. Security guards saw the man attempting to steal […]

3 hours ago

Associated Press

Treasury creates new strike force as US and China pursue crackdown on illicit fentanyl trafficking

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department on Monday announced a new strike force to help combat illicit fentanyl trafficking as the U.S. and China step up efforts to stop the movement of the powerful opioid and drug-making materials into the U.S. The Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force will bring together personnel and intelligence from throughout the Treasury […]

4 hours ago

Associated Press

Man suspected of killing 4, including a 1-year-old, at a Dallas home kills self during police chase

DALLAS (AP) — A man suspected of killing four people, including a 1-year-old boy, and injuring a 15-year-old girl in a shooting at a Dallas home fatally shot himself during a chase with law enforcement, police said Monday. Byron Carillo, 21, fled the home after the shooting late Sunday afternoon and then stole a vehicle, […]

4 hours ago

In this image provided by the U.S. Air Force, Airman 1st Class Jackson Ligon, 341st Missile Mainten...

Associated Press

The Air Force is expanding a review of cancers for service members who worked with nuclear missiles

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Air Force is expanding its study of whether service members who worked with nuclear missiles have had unusually high rates of cancer after a preliminary review determined that a deeper examination is needed. The initial study was launched in response to reports that many who served are now ill. The Air […]

4 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

Follow @KTAR923...

Valley residents should be mindful of plumbing ahead of holidays

With Halloween in the rear-view and more holidays coming up, Day & Night recommends that Valley residents prepare accordingly.

...

Desert Institute for Spine Care

Desert Institute for Spine Care (DISC) wants to help Valley residents address back, neck issues through awake spine surgery

As the weather begins to change, those with back issues can no longer rely on the dry heat to aid their backs. That's where DISC comes in.

...

Midwestern University

Midwestern University: innovating Arizona health care education

Midwestern University’s Glendale Campus near Loop 101 and 59th Avenue is an established leader in health care education and one of Arizona’s largest and most valuable health care resources.

Ex-officer Thao convicted of aiding George Floyd’s killing