Three more Minneapolis officers charged in George Floyd’s death, Minnesota AG says
Three more Minneapolis police officers have been charged in the death of George Floyd, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced Wednesday.
Ellison also said charges against fired police officer Derek Chauvin were upgraded to second-degree murder.
“About 9 days ago, the world watched Floyd utter his very last words, ‘I can’t breathe,’ as he pled for his life,” Ellison said during a news conference. “The world heard Floyd call out for his mama and cried out ‘don’t kill me.’”
J Alexander Kueng, 26, Thomas Kiernan Lane, 37, and Tou Thao, 34, are each charged with aiding and abetting second degree murder - unintentional - while committing a felony, as well as aiding and abetting second degree manslaughter - culpable - negligence creating unreasonable risk. All are felony offenses.
All four officers at the scene have been fired.
Kueng was already in Hennepin County Jail as the charges were announced. The other two former police officers are expected to be in custody by the afternoon, officials said.
“We are here today because George Floyd is not here. He should be here,” Ellison said. “He should be alive, but he’s not.”
The officers are accused of standing by as Chauvin pinned Floyd’s neck to the ground with his knee on Memorial Day. The death has ignited protests across the U.S. against police brutality and the deaths of black people while in police custody.
“This is another important step for justice,” U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar tweeted.
Klobuchar served as prosecutor in Hennepin County — home to Minneapolis — before she was elected to the U.S. senate in 2006.
Floyd family attorney Ben Crump released a joint statement on the new charges, calling it a “bittersweet moment” for Floyd’s loved ones.
“We are deeply gratified that Attorney General Keith Ellison took decisive action in this case, arresting and charging all the officers involved in George Floyd’s death and upgrading the charge against Derek Chauvin to felony second-degree murder,” the statement released to media said. “These officers knew they could act with impunity, given the Minneapolis Police Department’s widespread and prolonged pattern and practice of violating people’s constitutional rights.”
During a Wednesday press conference at the site of Floyd’s death, Crump said he believed Ellison was working to do the right thing, ABC News reported. ”Ellison has a track record of championing civil rights of those who are marginalized,” Crump said.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz appointed Ellison to lead the investigation on Monday. Ellison pledged to “hold everyone accountable for the behavior that we can prove in a court.”
“Just two days ago when I became the lead prosecutor in the murder of Mr. Floyd, I asked for time to thoroughly review all the evidence in the case, and we looked at the evidence that’s available and the investigation is ongoing at this time,” Ellison said. “I also said that I know it’s asking a lot of people to give us time, particularly people who have suffered for decades and centuries of injustice, to be patient. And yet, we did get that time.”
