Just Earth News | @justearthnews | 07 May 2021, 09:09 am Print
Clockwise: Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane. Photo: Twitter
Saint Paul: Four former Minneapolis police officers have been indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with the death of George Floyd.
According to court documents filed in federal court in Minnesota, the officers violated Floyd's constitutional rights.
The indictment said Derek Chauvin- who was convicted in April on murder charges in the Floyd's death- deprived the victim of the right to be free from "unreasonable seizure, which includes the right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a police officer."
The other three- J. Alexander Kueng, 27, Thomas Lane, 38, and Tou Thao, 35- have been charged with aiding and abetting the murder.
"Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng were also charged in connection with their failure to intervene in Chauvin's use of unreasonable force, per the indictment. Chauvin, Thao, Kueng and the fourth officer, Thomas Lane, all face a charge for failing to give Floyd medical aid," a CNN report said.
The indictment said, "the defendants saw George Floyd lying on the ground in clear need of medical care, and willfully failed to aid Floyd, thereby acting with deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of harm to Floyd."
Reports said Kueng, Lane and Thao have pleaded not guilty and are set to stand trial in August.
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