MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The previous Minneapolis police officer who kneeled on George Floyd’s again whereas one other officer kneeled on the Black man’s neck was sentenced Friday to three 1/2 years in jail.
J. Alexander Kueng pleaded responsible in October to a state depend of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. In trade, a cost of aiding and abetting homicide was dropped. Kueng is already serving a federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights, and the state and federal sentence can be served on the identical time.
Kueng appeared on the listening to through video from a federal jail in Ohio. When given the prospect to deal with the court docket, he declined.
Floyd’s members of the family had the fitting to make sufferer influence statements, however none did. Legal professional Ben Crump, who has represented the household, stated in an announcement earlier than the listening to that Kueng’s sentencing “delivers one more piece of justice for the Floyd household.”
“Whereas the household faces one more vacation season with out George, we hope that moments like these proceed to deliver them a measure of peace, realizing that George’s demise was not in useless,” he stated.
Floyd died on Might 25, 2020, after former Officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes as Floyd repeatedly stated he couldn’t breathe and finally went limp. The killing, which was recorded on video by a bystander, sparked worldwide protests as a part of a broader reckoning over racial injustice.
Kueng kneeled on Floyd’s again in the course of the restraint. Then-Officer Thomas Lane held Floyd’s legs and Tou Thao, additionally an officer on the time, saved bystanders from intervening. The entire officers had been fired and confronted state and federal costs.
As a part of his plea settlement, Kueng admitted that he held Floyd’s torso, that he knew from his expertise and coaching that restraining a handcuffed individual in a susceptible place created a considerable danger, and that the restraint of Floyd was unreasonable underneath the circumstances.
Matthew Frank, who led the prosecution for the Minnesota legal professional common’s workplace, stated repeatedly in the course of the listening to that Floyd was against the law sufferer and that the prosecution “centered on the officers” who brought on his demise. He added that the case was not meant to be a broader examination of policing, however added that he hopes it would reaffirm that cops can't deal with these “who're in disaster as non-people or second-class residents.”
“Mr. Kueng was not merely a bystander that day. He did lower than what a few of the bystanders tried to do in serving to Mr. Floyd,” Frank stated.
Kueng’s legal professional, Thomas Plunkett, on Friday blamed the Minneapolis Police Division’s management for Floyd’s demise and Kueng’s punishment. He accused Medaria Arradondo, the police chief on the time Floyd died, of failing to implement coaching to encourage officers to intervene when one in all their colleagues is doing one thing fallacious.
“Mr. Kueng, the rookie, sits in jail one yr for day-after-day he served the town,” Plunkett stated, referring to the three years he'll spend behind bars.
He added: “Justice has turn out to be nothing greater than mean-spirited revenge.”
Kueng’s sentencing brings the circumstances in opposition to all the former officers a step nearer to decision, although the state case in opposition to Thao continues to be pending.
Thao beforehand instructed Decide Peter Cahill that it “can be mendacity” to plead responsible. In October, he agreed to what’s referred to as a stipulated proof trial on the aiding and abetting manslaughter depend. As a part of that course of, his attorneys and prosecutors are figuring out agreed-upon proof in his case and submitting written closing arguments. Cahill will then resolve whether or not he's responsible or not.
If Thao is convicted, the homicide depend — which carries a presumptive sentence of 12 1/2 years in jail — can be dropped.
Chauvin, who's white, was convicted of state homicide and manslaughter costs final yr and is serving 22 1/2 years within the state case. He additionally pleaded responsible to a federal cost of violating Floyd’s civil rights and was sentenced to 21 years. He's serving the sentences concurrently on the Federal Correctional Establishment in Tucson, Arizona.
Kueng, Lane and Thao had been convicted of federal costs in February: All three had been convicted of depriving Floyd of his proper to medical care and Thao and Kueng had been additionally convicted of failing to intervene to cease Chauvin in the course of the killing.
Lane, who's white, is serving his 2 1/2-year federal sentence at a facility in Colorado. He’s serving a three-year state sentence on the identical time. Kueng, who's Black, was sentenced to 3 years on the federal counts; Thao, who's Hmong American, acquired a 3 1/2-year federal sentence.
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Groves reported from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
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For extra AP protection of the killing of George Floyd: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd
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