‘IMPORTANT STEP FOR JUSTICE’
All 4 officers charged in Floyd death
Charges against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin were upgraded to second-degree murder and three other former officers were charged with aiding and abetting in the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, that triggered eight days of nationwide protest in the United States.
Floyd, 46, died after Chauvin, a white policeman, knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes on May 25, reigniting the explosive issue of police brutality against African Americans five months before a presidential election.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is charging Chauvin, 44, with second-degree murder in addition to the third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges levelled against him last week, according to court documents seen on Wednesday.
The new charge can carry a sentence of up to 40 years, 15 years longer than the maximum sentence for third-degree murder.
The other three former officers who were involved in the incident — Thomas Lane, 37, J. Alexander Kueng, 26, and Tou Thao, 34, — were not originally charged. They now face charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
Second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree murder are punishable by up to 40 years in prison. Manslaughter and aiding and abetting manslaughter are punishable by up to 10 years in prison, according to an article on the CNN website.
Ellison, a black former U.S. congressman, has requested that bail be set at $1.4 million for each of the four former officers, the documents showed.
Chauvin, is now being defended by Eric Nelson of the Halberg Criminal Defense firm, according to Marsh Halberg, the firm’s chief executive.
Chauvin’s legal representation is being provided by the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, which draws from a panel of about a dozen attorneys, which includes both Nelson and the lawyer he replaced, Tom Kelly of Kelly & Jacobson.
Kelly told Reuters he gave up the case for medical-related reasons. The case was assigned to him by the association because he was the on-call attorney at the time of Chauvin’s arrest, Kelly said.
When reached by Reuters over the phone, Earl Gray, the attorney for Lane, said he had not received any information on the charges yet. Attorneys for the other officers who are being charged did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“This is a significant step forward on the road to justice, and we are gratified that this important action was brought before George Floyd’s body was laid to rest,” Benjamin Crump, attorney for the Floyd family, said in a statement.
Crump tweeted: “FAMILY REACTION: This is a bittersweet moment. We are deeply gratified that (Ellison) took decisive action, arresting & charging ALL the officers involved in #Georgefloyd’s death & upgrading the charge against Derek Chauvin to felony second-degree murder.”
Crump later told CNN that Chauvin should be facing a first-degree murder charge, and that Ellison had informed Floyd’s family that the investigation is ongoing and other charges could be filed.
Ellison was appointed by Gov. Tim Walz to take over the case from Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman on Sunday.
Protesters who have vented their anger over Floyd’s death in sometimes violent demonstrations in major U.S. cities over the past week had demanded the case be widened to include all the officers who were present during the incident.
“This is another important step for justice,” said U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, who is from Minnesota and a potential running mate for presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the Nov. 3 election.
Tens of thousands of people defied curfews and took to the streets of cities coast to coast for an eighth night Tuesday in protest over Floyd’s death and brutality against other black Americans.
Authorities took the unusual step of ordering the curfews, and bands of police in riot gear and other heavily armed officers patrolled, ringing landmarks and shouting at protesters while helicopters roared overhead.
The protests have highlighted the issues of racial inequality and excessive police force in a country that will go to the polls on Nov. 3 to decide whether to give Republican President Donald Trump another term in the White House.
Trump has said justice must be done in Floyd’s case but also touted a hard line on the violent protests, threatening to use the military to end the chaos. Biden has vowed to heal the racial divide in the nation if he is elected.