Two former Minneapolis police officers who failed to help George Floyd in his dying moments have been sentenced to prison time.
On Wednesday, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao learned their fate. Kueng received three years in prison and an additional two years of supervised release. Thao received 3 ½ years and two years of supervised release as well.
Both men were convicted in February, along with another officer, Thomas Lane, of violating Floyd’s civil rights during that fateful May 2020 arrest. The men failed to intervene as former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was killing Floyd. Kueng and Thao were also convicted of violating Floyd’s right to be free of an unreasonable seizure. Last week, Lane received 2 1/2 years in prison for violating Floyd’s civil rights. He had admitted during court that he knew he had a duty to help Floyd but failed to do so. He is now facing state-level charges of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
Floyd’s cousin Sabrina Montgomery gave a witness impact statement, revealing that she is not pleased with the short prison stints.
“All of these men deserve to serve longer sentences. The system these officers operated in is flawed, but again, where is their humanity?” she stated.
Chauvin is currently serving 22 1/2 years in state prison for killing Floyd. He also received 21 years in federal prison for violating George Floyd’s civil rights, which will be served concurrently with his state sentence.
