Ex-cops sentenced for violating Floyd’s rights

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced two former Minneapolis police officers who were convicted of violating George Floyd’s civil rights to lighter terms than recommended in sentencing guidelines, calling one “truly a rookie officer” and describing the other as “a good police officer, father and husband.”

U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson sentenced J. Alexander Kueng to three years in prison and Tou Thao to 3 1/2 years for violating Floyd’s rights in the May 25, 2020, killing in which then-Officer Derek Chauvin pinned Floyd’s neck with his knee for more than nine minutes as the 46-year-old Black man said he couldn’t breathe and eventually grew still. The killing, captured in bystander video, sparked protests worldwide and a reckoning of racial injustice.

Kueng pinned Floyd’s back, Thao held back concerned bystanders, and a fourth officer, Thomas Lane, held Floyd’s feet. Lane was sentenced last week to two years – also below guidelines and a sentence that Floyd’s brother Philonise called “insulting” – while Chauvin was sentenced earlier to 21 years. Floyd’s immediate family members did not attend Wednesday’s hearings or comment immediately afterward.

The lower sentences for Kueng, who is Black, and Thao, who is Hmong American, raise questions about whether they would consider a plea deal or risk a state court trial on Oct. 24, when they face counts of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Lane, who is white, pleaded guilty to a state charge of aiding and abetting seconddegree manslaughter and is awaiting sentencing in that case.