Three more former Minneapolis police officers have been charged as accomplices in connection with George Floyd’s death and are now in jail in Hennepin County, according to jail records.
Former officer Derek Chauvin, who was seen in videos with his knee pressing into Floyd’s death, was arrested last week and charged with third degree murder and second degree manslaughter.
In addition to charging Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane in the case, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison added a second degree murder charge against Chauvin, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
Jail records show that Thao, Kueng, and Lane have each been charged with second degree murder and second degree manslaughter. They’re being held on $1 million bond each and are expected in court on Thursday.
The four officers responded to Cup Foods on May 25 after Floyd, 46, was accused of using a counterfeit bill to pay for cigarettes. Video posted to social media showed Chauvin, 44, kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more eight minutes before he lost consciousness and died. In the videos, Lane and Kueng are also kneeling on Floyd while Thao appears to keep watch, as CrimeOnline previously reported.
The Star Tribune reported that the amended complaint against Chauvin says that “Police are trained that this type of restraint with a subject in a prone position is inherently dangerous. … Officer Chauvin’s restraint of Mr. Floyd in this manner for a prolonged period was a substantial factor in Mr. Floyd losing consciousness, constituting substantial bodily harm, and Mr. Floyd’s death as well.”
The four officers involved in Floyd’s arrest were ultimately fired. Chauvin is being held in Oak Park Heights prison, a maximum security facility.
Gov Tim Walz issued a statement after Ellison announced the charges, the Star Tribune said:
“I laid flowers at George Floyd’s memorial this morning. As a former high school history teacher, I looked up at the mural of George’s face painted above and I reflected on what his death will mean for future generations. What will our young people learn about this moment? Will his death be just another blip in a textbook? Or will it go down in history as when our country turned toward justice and change?
“It’s on each of us to determine that answer. The charges announced by Attorney General Keith Ellison today are a meaningful step toward justice for George Floyd. But we must also recognize that the anguish driving protests around the world is about more than one tragic incident.
“George Floyd’s death is the symptom of a disease. We will not wake up one day and have the disease of systemic racism cured for us. This is on each of us to solve together, and we have hard work ahead. We owe that much to George Floyd, and we owe that much to each other.”
See more reporting on this story from CrimeOnline.
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[Featured image: Thomas Lane, Alexander Kueng, Tuo Thao/Hennepin County Jail]
