The United States Justice Department announced that Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng will serve time in prison for violating George Floyd’s rights in May of 2020. Thao will serve 42 months in prison and Kueng will serve 36 months. These sentences were handed down earlier today following their individual sentencing trials.

A federal judge found both of the former Minneapolis police officers guilty following an almost five-week trial that started on February 24th, 2022. Thao and Kueng were tried for not providing Floyd his constitutional right to be free of unreasonable force when their colleague, ex-officer Derek Chauvin, pinned Floyd down for 9-and-a-half minutes with his knee. Neither man intervened for the duration Chauvin held Floyd down.

The jury also found the two guilty of not providing necessary medical treatment for Floyd. The United States Department of Justice states the following offenses resulted in Floyd’s bodily harm and death. These offenses violate a federal criminal civil rights statute that prohibits willful violation of civil rights from a person acting in official capacity.

Former Minneapolis Police Department Officer Thomas Lane was also found guilty by the same jury. On July 21st, 2022, Lane’s sentencing resulted in 30 months in prison for violating Floyd’s civil rights.

Chauvin was sentenced to 21 years in prison for the same offense, as well as violating a then-14-year-old child’s constitutional rights.

“All four officers involved in the tragic death of George Floyd have now been convicted in federal court, sentenced to prison, and held accountable for their crimes,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “George Floyd’s death could have been prevented if these defendants had carried out their affirmative duty to intervene to stop another officer’s use of deadly force.”

Clarke also calls for law enforcement officers and leaders to hold those like Chauvin, Lane, Thao, and Kueng responsible in order to affirm every person their constitutional rights.

U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger echoed Clarke’s thought, stating, “These sentences reaffirm that every law enforcement officer, whether rookie or senior, has an affirmative duty to protect individuals in their custody.”

By — Mary Balstad