Ex-Minneapolis officers guilty on all civil rights charges related to George Floyd's death

Three former Minneapolis police officers were convicted by a federal jury Thursday of depriving George Floyd of his constitutional rights by failing to stop a fellow officer from using the excessive force that killed him on the street outside Cup Foods nearly two years ago.

J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao were found guilty on all counts. They showed little reaction as the judge read the verdicts, with Lane slightly shaking his head and shrugging as he looked at his attorney.

Assistant U.S. Attorney LeeAnn Bell, the lead prosecutor on the case, spoke at a courthouse news conference afterward, thanking the jurors for their attentiveness during a long and difficult trial in St. Paul.

"We haven't been able to talk about George Floyd for much of this trial, but as one of the brave bystanders said, 'George Floyd was a human being,'" Bell said. "He deserved to be treated as such."

Philonise Floyd said that for the first time since his brother died May 25, 2020, he feels like he can finally breathe again. "I don't know how to act right now because I'm getting emotional," he said. "I got a lot of stuff going through my head. ... This has been a journey."

On behalf of the family, he said, "This is something we want everybody to remember: If you kill somebody, you're going to get time."

Charles Kovats, acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota, declined to take questions, including the length of sentence that prosecutors would seek.

During the trial, lawyers for the former officers argued that the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) training on the duty to intervene on illegal force was inadequate. All three men testified in their defense and said they didn't see what fellow officer Derek Chauvin was doing and didn't realize Floyd's grave condition.

They also argued that they deferred to the 19-year veteran and trusted him to do the right thing.

Kueng and Thao were convicted of two counts. They were found guilty of failing to intervene on Floyd's behalf as he pleaded for his life and repeatedly said he couldn't breathe while pinned under Chauvin's knee for more than 9 minutes.

Lane, Kueng and Thao were also convicted of violating Floyd's constitutional rights by failing to render medical aid during the restraint.

A bystander recorded the fatal encounter, and the video fueled global unrest and an ongoing national reckoning over race and the justice system.

Having found the officers guilty, the jury also was asked whether Floyd's restraint caused his death. The jury answered yes, allowing the possibility that the judge can impose lengthy sentences.

The former officers, who remain on conditional release, were not taken into custody and were escorted out the back of the downtown courthouse. Their lawyers left separately and declined to comment.

All three men face a second trial in Floyd's death on June 13 in Hennepin County District Court in Minneapolis, where they are accused of aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter.

Chauvin was found guilty of murder last April in state court and sentenced to more than 22 years in prison. In December, he pleaded guilty to federal charges of violating Floyd's constitutional rights but has yet to be sentenced.

He is being held in the prison at Oak Park Heights.

The joint trial of Kueng, Lane and Thao began in late January. Lawyers made their opening statements Jan. 24 and closing arguments Tuesday. Twenty-one witnesses testified for the prosecution; 11, including the three defendants, for the defense.

Jurors began deliberations just before 10 a.m. Wednesday and continued about 13 hours before reaching their verdict just before 4 p.m. Thursday.

Floyd's death on Memorial Day stunned the world. The following day, Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo fired all four officers as the cellphone video taken by teenage bystander Darnella Frazier ricocheted across social media.

First on the scene outside Cup Foods that day were Kueng and Lane, two rookie officers just days out of training. They responded to a call from a clerk that Floyd had used a counterfeit $20 to buy cigarettes.

The two officers first approached Floyd in his Mercedes SUV outside the store and handcuffed him behind his back. They then walked him across the street and tried to get him into the back of a squad vehicle.

As Kueng and Lane struggled to put an upset and protesting Floyd into the backseat, Chauvin and Thao arrived. With Thao standing watch, the other three officers placed a handcuffed Floyd prone on the street.

Floyd repeatedly said he couldn't breathe while Chauvin pinned his knee on the back of Floyd's neck, pressing the side of his face into the street. Kueng held down Floyd's lower back while Lane controlled his legs. Thao remained standing, holding back an increasingly angry group of bystanders on the curb who pleaded for the officers to relent or check Floyd's pulse.

In his instructions to the jury before deliberations, U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson told jurors they must view the evidence in light of what a "reasonable officer at the scene" would have done "without the benefit of 20-20 hindsight."

He told them they must consider whether the decision to use force on Floyd was reasonable under circumstances that were tense and rapidly evolving. The judge said it violates the Constitution for a police officer to fail to intervene if he had knowledge that the force was unreasonable and the ability to help.

The all-white jury came from across Minnesota. Eight were women; four were men. There were two each from Hennepin, Ramsey and Olmsted counties, and one from each of the following counties: Anoka, Blue Earth, Washington, Jackson, Nicollet and Scott.

Star Tribune staff writer Zoë Jackson contributed to this report.