Sentencing set for 2 ex-officers who violated Floyd’s civil rights
MINNEAPOLIS — A federal judge will sentence the remaining two former Minneapolis police officers convicted of violating George Floyd’s civil rights during his 2020 killing through back-to-back hearings next week in St. Paul.
J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao will be sentenced Wednesday for a pair of convictions handed down by a federal jury earlier this year. Kueng and Thao are still awaiting an Oct. 24 trial in Hennepin County on state charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter, but their federal sentencings will bring to a close the Justice Department’s criminal civil rights prosecutions stemming from Floyd’s murder.
U.S. Senior Judge Paul Magnuson sentenced Derek Chauvin to more than 20 years in prison earlier this month and imposed a 2½year sentence on Thomas Lane on Thursday, in both cases opting for a lesser term than what prosecutors asked for and Floyd’s relatives urged.
After a half-hour hearing Friday to dispute sentencing guideline calculations, Kueng and Thao now also stand to receive lesser sentences than they might otherwise have been given. Magnuson sided, in part, with arguments raised by attorneys for the two ex-officers by finding that involuntary manslaughter and not second-degree murder should be used to calculate the offense levels in their cases.
Magnuson found that those facts precluded the element of “malice aforethought” necessary to prove seconddegree murder.
The congressman is continuing his “Unite to Fire Hochul” bus tour, making over a dozen stops over the course of four days, and he plans to address the frightening incident following a stump speech in Onondaga County, his campaign said Friday morning.
The candidate decided not to alter his busy schedule despite Thursday’s harrowing incident.
The Long Island lawmaker was on stage speaking to supporters outside of a VFW post in Fairport, near Rochester, around 8 p.m. when a man with a weapon in his hand approached him, swung the object towards Zeldin’s neck, and told him, “You’re done,” according to police.
David Jakubonis, 43, was charged with attempted assault in the second degree, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. He was arraigned in town court and released on his own recognizance.