A federal judge in St. Paul sentenced Mr. Lane several months after a jury found him guilty of violating Mr. Floyd’s rights by not providing him with medical treatment after Derek Chauvin, the other officer, knelt on his neck for more . from nine minutes. Mr. Lane, who is also awaiting trial for manslaughter, will be the second officer to be jailed for Mr. Floyd’s death, which sparked a summer of protests across the United States in 2020. Mr. Lane’s sentence showed that the judge, Paul Magnuson, was willing to jail a police officer who was not primarily responsible for Mr. Floyd’s death, although the sentence imposed was less than half of what had been requested the prosecutors. Mr Floyd’s relatives had asked the judge to impose the maximum prison sentence and said afterwards that they were upset by the sentence. “It’s insulting that he didn’t get the maximum time,” said Philonise Floyd, one of Mr. Floyd’s siblings, adding: “If it was me and it was an accessory to murder, I’d be given the maximum amount of time. And you’re a police officer sworn to protect, sworn and you didn’t get the maximum time.” Mr Lane and his lawyer declined to comment as they left court. The judge’s sentence was three months longer than they had asked for. Judge Magnuson described the crime as a “very serious offence” but also called Mr Lane a person of “excellent character” and said he had received a flood of letters of support. The judge ordered Mr. Lane to surrender in October after he was convicted of manslaughter.
Understand the trials that have arisen from the death of George Floyd
Card 1 of 5 Four defendants. Along with Mr. Chauvin, three other officers were charged with playing a role in Mr. Floyd’s death. Tou Thao, a veteran officer who was Mr. Chauvin’s partner, was holding back a group of bystanders. J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane helped locate Mr. Floyd. The four men have been involved in several proceedings. Mr. Chauvin’s criminal trial. In April 2021, a jury in state court found Mr. Chauvin, who is white, guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. In June 2021, he was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison. appealed against his conviction. A second criminal trial. Mr. Kueng, Mr. Lane and Mr. Thao were scheduled to go on trial on June 13 on charges of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and second-degree murder in Mr. Floyd’s death. On May 18, Mr. Lane pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in state court. The trial of the remaining two officers was later adjourned. Mr. Lane, 39, was in his first week on the job as a full-time officer when he and three other officers arrived at a South Minneapolis convenience store on May 25, 2020, in response to a 911 call that said Mr. Floyd he had used a fake $20 bill to buy cigarettes. Officers handcuffed Mr. Floyd and then forced him to the ground when he resisted being placed in the back of a police car and said he was claustrophobic and unable to breathe. Mr Floyd continued to say he could not breathe as the officers placed him face down on the pavement and Mr Chauvin began kneeling on his neck. Mr. Lane held his feet as a third officer, J. Alexander Kueng, also held Mr. Floyd down with his knee and a fourth, Tou Thao, prevented bystanders from intervening. When emergency medics arrived, they could detect no pulse from Mr. Floyd. All four Minneapolis police officers at the scene were charged with various offenses. Mr. Chauvin is serving a 21-year prison sentence after a jury found him guilty of Mr. Floyd’s murder. he later pleaded guilty to violating Mr. Floyd’s rights. Mr. Lane and Mr. Chauvin are white, while Mr. Kueng is black and Mr. Thao is Asian American. Mr. Floyd, 46, was black and a former security guard who had lost his job at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. During the arrest, Mr. Lane twice asked Mr. Chauvin if they should roll Mr. Floyd on his side so he could breathe more easily, but was rebuffed by Mr. Chauvin. Prosecutors had charged him with fewer crimes than those they were pursuing against the other officers and asked the judge to sentence Mr. Lane to about five to six-and-a-half years in prison, less than they had sought in the other cases. Mr. Lane pleaded guilty to a state charge of accessory to second-degree murder in May and is expected to be sentenced in September. His attorneys and state prosecutors agreed to recommend a three-year prison sentence that would run with his federal sentence, though a judge will ultimately decide. If that sentence is imposed, he will likely be released after serving just over two years in federal prison. Mr. Kueng and Mr. Thao are scheduled to go on trial in January on charges of aiding and abetting both murder and manslaughter. They were tried alongside Mr. Lane in the federal case and, like Mr. Lane, were both found guilty of violating Mr. Floyd’s rights by failing to provide medical assistance. They were also found guilty of an additional charge of failing to intervene to stop Mr Chauvin. No date has been set for their sentencing. A video of police pinning Mr. Floyd to the ground — recorded by Darnella Frazier, who was 17 at the time — cast doubt on the police’s initial narrative that Mr. Floyd died after a “medical incident” and quickly began protests in the Twin Cities and, soon after, across the country. The movement soon became one of the largest protests in US history, as millions marched to oppose racism and police abuse in thousands of cities. In some cities, the protests turned destructive. hundreds of buildings in Minneapolis were damaged, and a Minneapolis police building was among the structures burned to the ground.
