Tou Thao has been found guilty of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter for his involvement in the killing of George Floyd.
Court documents filed on Monday detail the verdict handed down by Minnesota Judge Peter Cahill, who wrote that the former officer “actively encouraged his three colleagues’ dangerous, prone restraint of Floyd.” He also said that Thao did so despite his training in the position that could cause fatal asphyxia, CNN reported.
“Like the bystanders, Thao could see Floyd’s life slowly ebbing away as the restraint continued,” Cahill wrote in his 177-page verdict. “Yet Thao made a conscious decision to actively participate in Floyd’s death: he held back the concerned bystanders and even prevented an off-duty Minneapolis firefighter from rendering the medical aid Floyd so desperately needed.”
The ruling concludes a series of state and federal trials for the four former officers involved in Floyd’s May 2020 death, which was captured on video and sparked global outrage and protests objecting to police violence against Black people.
“The conviction of Tou Thao is historic and the right outcome,” lead prosecutor in the case and Minnesota’s Attorney General Keith Ellison, in a statement. “It brings one more measure of accountability in the tragic death of George Floyd. Accountability is not justice, but it is a step on the road to justice.”
Thao, Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, and J. Alexander Kueng were the four officers fired and arrested following the brutal death of Floyd. On the day of the incident, Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck while he was handcuffed and lying on his stomach for over nine minutes.
Thao was standing nearby and ordered concerned residents not to interfere despite Floyd pleading for air and for his mother. Thao also made mocking references to Floyd’s assumed drug use and kept the group of bystanders from helping.
At his federal trial in 2022, when prosecutors asked him why he didn’t tell Chauvin to get off Floyd’s neck, he said: “I think I would trust a 19-year veteran to figure it out.”
Lane, Kueng, and Thao were found guilty in federal court of violating Floyd’s civil rights and failing to intervene in Chauvin’s restraint. Thao is already serving a 3.5-year sentence for his February 2022 conviction on federal charges.
Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in the lower court and was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison in 2021. In federal court, he pleaded guilty to depriving Floyd of his rights and an unrelated civil rights violation and was sentenced to 21 years in prison. He is serving the sentences concurrently.
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