Tou Thao, ex-officer charged in George Floyd’s killing, found guilty

Tou Thao, the former Minneapolis police officer who nearly three years ago kept back bystanders concerned for George Floyd's well-being as he died under the knee of convicted cop Derek Chauvin, was found guilty Tuesday of aiding and abetting manslaughter.

The verdict from Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill comes in the last case to be prosecuted in either state or federal court for the four officers who played varying roles in the killing at 38th Street and S. Chicago Avenue on May 25, 2020, which was decried globally as an especially brazen act of police brutality.

"Thao, Chauvin's partner on that night, was an experienced Minneapolis police officer with almost a decade's experience. He knew that the officers' prone restraint could kill," Cahill wrote. "Like the other officers, Thao had been trained specifically to turn an individual onto his side to avoid positional asphyxia, the very thing that several eminent medical specialists who testified at trial concluded caused Floyd's death.

"Like the bystanders, Thao could see Floyd's life slowly ebbing away as the restraint continued. 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."

Thao asked for a bench trial, meaning a judge determines his guilt or innocence rather than a jury, and the prosecution and defense agreed on stipulated evidence from the previous state trial of Chauvin and the federal civil rights trial of Thao and ex-officers Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng, who have also been convicted in Floyd's death. Thao remains in custody ahead of sentencing, which is scheduled for Aug. 7.

Robert Paule, Thao's attorney, said he plans on appealing the verdict and added, "I respectfully disagree with the decision, and I think it expands the doctrine of aiding and abetting beyond what we've seen [defined] at the appellate level."

Paule said his client is "Disappointed. He really is."

Thao has long insisted that he was largely unaware of the deadly peril of what was going on a few feet behind him as he stood between a dying Floyd and the increasingly worried and vocal crowd gathered at the curb.

In his verdict, Cahill cast doubt on how, in his federal testimony, Thao described himself as merely a "human traffic cone" between the officers who pinned Floyd to the ground and the bystanders, noting that he "directly interacted with Chauvin, Kueng, and Lane and advised them on their restraint, indicating he was aware of their actions."

Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office led the prosecution of the four fired officers, said in a statement Tuesday that "the conviction of Tou Thao is historic and the right outcome. 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."

Ellison noted that "while we have now reached the end of the prosecution of Floyd's murder, it is not behind us. There is much more that prosecutors, law-enforcement leaders, rank-and-file officers, elected officials, and community can do to bring about true justice in law enforcement and true trust and safety in all communities."

Attorneys for Floyd's survivors, led by Benjamin Crump, said in a statement that the family "is grateful for another measure of accountability for his death. Nearly three years after George was killed, the family and Minneapolis community continue to heal as the criminal justice system prevails. With each of these measures of justice, it is even more so demonstrated that police brutality is an illegal — and punishable — act."

Cahill's 177-page finding of guilt, which includes an exhaustive recounting of the trial, cast aside any notion that Thao was largely oblivious to Floyd nearing his final breath because of the other officers' actions.

"Thao actively encouraged his three colleagues' dangerous prone restraint of Floyd while holding back a crowd of concerned bystanders begging the officers to render medical aid," the judge wrote. "Thao knew, as the minutes passed and the restraint continued unimpeded, that Floyd had stopped talking and fallen silent, had stopped moving altogether, and had become totally unresponsive. In fact, by about six minutes into the restraint, Floyd stopped breathing, lost consciousness, and became pulseless."

Thao's sentence could range from three to five years. He has remained in segregated custody in the Hennepin County Jail since October, when a joint trial with Kueng was expected to begin. But in an 11th-hour resolution, Kueng pleaded guilty and Thao waived his right to a jury trial, leaving the verdict to Cahill.

The decisions avoided a joint trial that was expected to last until mid-December and involve dozens of witnesses again recounting Floyd's murder in south Minneapolis on May 25, 2020 — a brazen act of police brutality viewed and decried globally.

Kueng and fellow officer Thomas Lane helped Chauvin hold a handcuffed Floyd on the ground while Thao held back a group of bystanders that pleaded with officers to give Floyd medical attention as he pleaded for his life and lost consciousness. Chauvin's knee pinned Floyd's neck for more than 9 minutes.

Among the group was Darnella Frazier, a teenager who lived nearby and whose video of Floyd's arrest and death proved pivotal for prosecutors and put the incident before the eyes of millions around the world.

"The world needed to see what I was seeing," Frazier told the Star Tribune the next day. "Stuff like this happens in silence too many times."

Chauvin was tried before a worldwide audience that watched the proceedings on livestream and convicted of second-degree murder and manslaughter in 2021. He pleaded guilty to federal charges for violating Floyd's civil rights and is serving a 20-year sentence.

Kueng, Thao and Lane were found guilty of federal charges in a jury trial and are serving federal sentences ranging from 2½ to 3½ years.

Lane was sentenced in September to three years in prison after he pleaded guilty in May to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. Kueng in October admitted to the same charge and was sentenced to 3 1⁄2 years. Both will serve their sentences concurrently with their federal sentences.

At his federal sentencing in July when he received 3½ years, Thao heavily quoted scripture in a 23-minute statement that spoke of retribution, describing the case as corrupt and saying the legal process caused him "great distress."