3 ex-cops convicted of rights violations in Floyd killing

ST PAUL, Minnesota (AP):

Three former Minneapolis police officers were convicted on Thursday of violating George Floyd’s civil rights as a federal jury rejected their arguments that inexperience, improper training, or the distraction of shouting bystanders excused them from failing to prevent Floyd’s killing.

Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kuen,g and Thomas Lane were convicted of depriving Floyd of his right to medical care as the 46-year-old black man was pinned under fellow Officer Derek Chauvin’s knee for nine and a half minutes while handcuffed, facedown on the street on May 25, 2020. Kueng knelt on Floyd’s back, Lane held his legs, and Thao kept bystanders back.

Thao and Kueng were also convicted of failing to intervene to stop Chauvin in the videotaped killing that sparked protests in Minneapolis and around the globe as part of a reckoning over racial injustice.