3 more charged in Floyd’s killing
Trio accused of aiding in death; officer faces 2nd-degree murder
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The three Minneapolis police officers who failed to intervene while George Floyd was killed were charged Wednesday with aiding in his death, and officials pressed a more severe charge — second-degree murder — against Derek Chauvin, the officer who pinned Floyd to the ground with a knee for nearly nine minutes while he pleaded, “I can’t breathe.”
Announcing the charges, Keith Ellison, Minnesota’s attorney general, who was assigned by the governor to handle the closely watched case, asked for patience during what he said would be a lengthy investigation and cautioned that history revealed serious challenges in prosecutions of police officers.
“We’re here today because George Floyd is not here. He should be here,” said Ellison, a former Democratic congressman and civil rights lawyer, adding later: “Trying this case will not be an easy thing. Winning a conviction will be hard.”
“I take no joy in this,” Ellison said. “But I feel a tremendous sense of duty and responsibility.”
On a ninth straight night of demonstrations, thousands of people amassed Wednesday evening, including on the streets of West Hollywood, Calif., and outside the Colorado State Capitol. Issuing intensifying calls for changes to American policing, the protesters showed no signs of calling off their activism. In New York City, a rally was planned outside the mayor’s official residence.
Some of the demonstrators who have taken to the streets lauded the new criminal charges against the Minneapolis officers in a case that set off waves of anger and outrage since a video of Floyd’s death became public last week. Many had called for harsher charges against Chauvin, who was initially charged with thirddegree murder, and for charges against the other officers. Still, many protesters said the new charges against the four, all of whom were fired from the force, would not quell the demonstrations, which were seeking broader systemic changes to the nation’s justice system.
“For me it’s just one step,” Cortez Hollis said as he took part Wednesday in a protest against police brutality and the local police union leadership in Minneapolis. The charges against these police officers, he said, were only a beginning: “I recognize it’s not a sprint, it’s a journey.”
At a protest on Chicago’s North Side, Jonathan Mejias said he was gratified by the news of the charges — to a point.
“It’s just one piece,” he said. “The world needs to know that it doesn’t end with resolving this one case. There are too many more out there.”
And in Los Angeles, Byron Spencer said he felt both “elated and defeated” about the developments in Minneapolis. He said he had seen countless moments of public outrage stirred by the abuses of black men by the police. “I’m 55, I’m black and I’m male,” he said. “Six weeks, nine weeks later, we repeat the cycle,” he said.
The new charges came on the eve of a memorial that is expected to draw large crowds to a Minneapolis chapel to remember Floyd, and representatives for the family described the moment as a painful yet necessary development.
“This is a significant step forward on the road toward justice, and we are gratified that this important action was brought before George Floyd’s body was laid to rest,” said Ben Crump, a lawyer for Floyd’s family. “That is a source of peace for George’s family in this painful time.”
Around the country, political leaders responded to the announcement of charges but said it would not mean an end to unrest that has roiled the country.
Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, a Democrat, said he viewed the charges as “a meaningful step toward justice for George Floyd.” But he added, “We must also recognize that the anguish driving protests around the world is about more than one tragic incident.”
In the new charges announced by Ellison, Chauvin, a white police officer who could be seen in a video pinning Floyd, a black security guard, beneath his knee for nearly nine minutes, was charged with second-degree murder, a count that is more serious and could carry a longer prison sentence than the initial count he had faced, of third-degree murder.
Three other officers who were present — Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao — were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.
Chauvin kept his knee on
Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, including for 2 minutes 53 seconds after Floyd fell unresponsive, according to the initial charging document released by prosecutors.
The other officers did not stop Chauvin, and Lane and Kueng helped hold Floyd to the ground for at least part of the time, while Thao stood nearby, according to a video reconstruction of the arrest by the New York Times. Lane asked at one point whether they should turn Floyd onto his side, prosecutors said, but Chauvin said, “No, staying put where we got him.”
Lawyers for the four officers declined to comment or did not respond to inquiries. Court appearances were scheduled for as early as Thursday for at least some of them. Chauvin, who has been in custody since last week, was scheduled to appear in court Monday, according to jail records.
A private autopsy conducted by doctors hired by Floyd’s family determined that he died not just because of the knee on his neck, but also because two other officers applied pressure on his back. The cause of death was listed as mechanical asphyxia.
The Hennepin County medical examiner also found that the manner of death was homicide but said that Floyd, who had heart conditions, went into cardiac arrest while being restrained by law enforcement. The onepage summary also noted that Floyd was intoxicated with fentanyl and had recently used methamphetamines.
In Minnesota, second-degree murder requires prosecutors to prove either that Chauvin intended to kill Floyd or that he did so while committing another felony. A court filing indicated that prosecutors planned to take the latter approach. Third-degree murder does not require an intent to kill, according to the Minnesota statute, only that the perpetrator caused someone’s death in a dangerous act “without regard for human life.”
Under Minnesota law, seconddegree murder comes with a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, and accomplices can be eligible for the same penalties as the primary defendant.
Thao, 34, had faced six misconduct complaints in his career with the Minneapolis Police Department. He also was the subject of a lawsuit that claimed he and another officer punched, kicked and kneed an African American man, leaving the man with broken teeth and bruises. A lawyer involved in the case said the city settled the case by agreeing to pay $25,000.
Chauvin had faced at least 17 misconduct complaints over nearly two decades with the department.
Neither Lane, 37, nor Kueng, 26, had prior misconduct complaints filed against them, according to the police department.
In Minneapolis on Wednesday, Quincy Mason, the son of George Floyd, walked slowly to the site where his father was killed, through a phalanx of journalists and onlookers. He dropped to one knee on top of a chalk drawing of Floyd’s body with wings and a crown.
Mason thanked the protesters for demonstrating and noted the emotional weight of the moment. He stood before a crowd of about 300 in front of a corner market in the Midtown neighborhood of Minneapolis that has become a makeshift memorial flooded with flowers, murals, posters and other tributes to Floyd.