Ex-cops Kueng, Thao get jail for violating 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 3½ 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.
Floyd’s girlfriend, Courteney Ross, made statements at both men’s sentencing hearings and said afterward that she was disappointed, particularly with Thao’s sentence. It “didn’t really seem to match the crime to me. I was asking for the maximum sentence,” she said.
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 second-degree manslaughter and is awaiting sentencing in that case.
Federal sentencing guidelines — which judges do not have to follow — recommended 4¼ to 5¼ years for Kueng and 5 ¼ to 6 ½ years for Thao. For both men, prosecutors argued for sentences higher than that. Prosecutor Manda Sertich argued that Kueng “didn’t say a word” as Floyd lay dying. Prosecutor LeeAnn Bell said Thao had “a bird’seye view of what was going on” with Floyd..
The federal government brought the civil rights charges against all four officers in May 2021, a month after Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter in state court.
They were seen as an affirmation of the Justice Department’s priorities to address racial inequities in policing, a promise made by President Joe Biden before his election.