4 ex-cops indicted on U.S. civil rights charges in Floyd death
MINNEAPOLIS — A federal grand jury has indicted the four former Minneapolis police officers involved in George Floyd’s arrest and death, accusing them of willfully violating the Black man’s constitutional rights as he was restrained face-down on the pavement and gasping for air.
A three-count indictment unsealed Friday names Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao. Chauvin, convicted last month on state charges of murder and manslaughter, is charged with violating Floyd’s right to be free from unreasonable seizure and unreasonable force by a police officer. Thao and Kueng are also charged with violating Floyd’s right to be free from unreasonable seizure, accused of not intervening to stop Chauvin as he knelt on Floyd’s neck. All four officers are charged for their failure to provide Floyd with medical care.
Floyd’s May 25 arrest and death, which a bystander captured on cellphone video, sparked nationwide complaints about the police treatment of Black people and protests calling for an end to police brutality and racial inequities.
Chauvin was also charged in a second indictment, stemming from the use of force and neck restraint of a 14-year-old boy in 2017.
The indictment in Floyd’s death was handed down about a week after federal prosecutors brought hate crimes charges in the death of Ahmaud Arbery, as the Justice Department shifts its priorities to focus more on civil rights issues, criminal justice overhauls and policing policies.
Lane, Thao and Kueng made their initial court appearances Friday via videoconference in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis. Chauvin has not yet made his initial appearance. He is in state custody as he awaits sentencing on the state charges. The other three former officers face a state trial in August, and they remain free on bond.