On May 25, 2020, a man named George Floyd died after a store clerk suspected him of using a counterfeit 20 dollar bill and called authorities. Once authorities arrived on the scene, they forcibly removed Floyd from his car, and one of the officers Derek Chauvin got Floyd on the ground laying on his stomach and pressed his knee onto his neck, and held it there for over nine minutes. There were three other officers that were involved two of them held Floyd down while the other controlled the bystanders. Floyd died to the lack of oxygen.
On February 24, 2022, the three former Minneapolis police officers that were involved in the arrest and killing of George Floyd were found guilty of violating Floyd’s civil rights. The jurors of the trial found the three officers, Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane were found guilty because the officers ignored Floyd’s civil rights by showing no care for Floyd’s medical needs, as one of the officers, Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for over nine minutes. Thao and Kueng were faced and charged with an additional charge for not intervening and stopping Chauvin. Lane however was not faced with this charge because he asked Chauvin to stop twice, and he did not comply.
Derek Chauvin was found guilty last year on account of murder, and he was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison. The three officers who were just convicted, are free on bond awaiting their sentence hearing which has yet to be scheduled. George Floyd’s brother released a statement after the three officers were convicted saying that these officers that were convicted is not justice, it’s mere accountability because he would never be able to get his brother back.
While the three officers were convicted under civil charges. They are awaiting trial in June to see if they will be found guilty additionally under the charges of aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter. These charges brought against the three officers is a huge step forward in the right direction because no police officer has faced these kinds of intense charges before and it’s showing more accountability on law enforcement. Floyd’s case started a huge movement and implemented a lot of change regarding keeping law enforcement accountable and spreading awareness on racism that is embedded in our society.
This blog post is part of the CIMA law group blog. If you are located in Arizona and are seeking legal services, CIMA law group specializes in Immigration law, Criminal Defense, Personal Injury, and Government Relations.
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