Police officer present in George Floyd's death found guilty of complicity in homicide

MISE À DAY

One of the officers present in the 2020 death of George Floyd, who was asphyxiated below an officer's knee in Minneapolis, has been found guilty of being an accessory to homicide, according to court documents released Tuesday.< /p>

Tou Thao had kept the passers-by terrified by the scene at a distance and who were trying to intervene while the black forty-something was dying on the ground. The ex-policeman has already been found guilty of “violating the civil rights” of the victim and sentenced to three and a half years in prison.

A Hennepin County court in Minnesota ruled on Monday that he was guilty of accessory to homicide. His sentence is due August 7.

Tou Thao “was an experienced Minneapolis police officer.” “He knew that immobilizing (a suspect) face down could kill,” the judge said in his verdict.

“Like passers-by, Thao could see the life slowly leaving Floyd's body. However, he made the decision to participate actively in his death: he pushed away worried passers-by and even prevented an off-duty Minneapolis firefighter from providing the medical aid that Floyd so desperately needed. p>

This decision, which closes the legal process in the case of the murder of George Floyd, “is the one that had to be taken,” reacted Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison in a press release.

“ She brings more accountability in the tragic death of George Floyd. Accountability does not equal justice, but it is one more step on the road to justice,” he added.

On May 25, 2020, white police officer Derek Chauvin, a seasoned Minneapolis police officer, had knelt on the African American's neck for nearly ten minutes, oblivious to shocked passers-by and George Floyd's groans.

Two other police officers had helped to hold him down.

The scene, filmed and posted online, had triggered huge demonstrations against racism and police violence across the United States and beyond.

Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murder by a Minnesota state court after a well-attended trial and sentenced to 22 and a half years in detention.

Tou Thao is the last of the police officers involved to be convicted.