Minneapolis: A federal grand jury has indicted the four former Minneapolis police officers involved in George Floyd’s arrest and murder, accusing them of violating the Black man’s constitutional rights as he was restrained face-down on the pavement and gasping for air, according to indictments unsealed on Friday.
The three-count indictment on civil rights charges names Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, J Kueng and Tou Thao.
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Derek Chauvin, who is white, was convicted last month of murdering Floyd after kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes during an arrest, and failing to give first aid to the 46-year-old Black man, who had pleaded that he could not breathe, after he passed out.
The other three now-ex officers are due to stand trial this August, separately, charged by the state of Minnesota with aiding and abetting Floyd’s murder.
All four were fired by the Minneapolis police department shortly after Floyd died. They had arrested him on suspicion of using a fake $20 bill in a store, which would have been a misdemeanor.
In the parallel federal case, specifically, it emerged on Friday, Chauvin, Thao and Kueng are charged with violating Floyd’s right to be free from unreasonable seizure and excessive force.
And all four officers are charged for their failure to provide Floyd with medical care.
The federal charges coming in addition to the state’s cases mean all four could face new trials in federal court.
Chauvin also faces a two-count federal indictment revealed on Friday, alleging he willfully deprived a 14-year-old Minneapolis boy of his civil rights during a 2017 arrest, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
The then officer with the Minneapolis police department, which has a poor track record on addressing police brutality and a history of white officers escaping prosecution in the killing of Black residents, pinned the teenager down for nine and a half minutes, around the same duration that he pinned Floyd last year.
Chauvin struck the teen on the head with his flashlight, then grabbed him by the throat and hit him again, according to court documents.
The Department of Justice announced shortly after the Chauvin murder trial verdict that it will investigate the department.
Meanwhile, Lane, Thao and Kueng appeared via videoconference in US district court in Minneapolis on Friday morning. They were allowed to remain free after the federal court appearance.
Chauvin was not present in court on Friday. He is in custody awaiting sentencing next month on the three state charges on which he was found guilty, with the most serious, second-degree murder, carrying a prison sentence of up to 40 years.
The Democratic attorney general of Minnesota, Keith Ellison, who is leading the state prosecution of the four former officers, applauded federal prosecutors’ decision to bring charges against the former police officers involved in the murder of George Floyd.
“The federal government has a responsibility to protect the civil rights of every American and to pursue justice to the fullest extent of federal law,” Ellison said in a statement.
“Federal prosecution for the violation of George Floyd’s civil rights is entirely appropriate, particularly now that Derek Chauvin has been convicted of murder under Minnesota law for the death of George Floyd. The state is planning to present our case against the other three defendants to another jury in Hennepin county later this summer.”
The civil rights attorneys Ben Crump, Antonio Romanucci and L Chris Stewart, representing George Floyd’s family, said the federal indictment “reinforces the strength and wisdom of the United States constitution”.
“The constitution claims to be committed to life, liberty and justice, and we are seeing this realized in the justice George Floyd continues to receive. This comes after hundreds of years of American history in which Black Americans unfortunately did not receive equal justice,” the lawyers said.
“The constitutional violations that George suffered are clear, and were also detailed by our civil litigation team last July. Further, the additional indictment of Derek Chauvin shows a pattern and practice of behavior. We are encouraged by these charges and eager to see continued justice in this historic case that will impact Black citizens and all Americans for generations to come.” The Guardian
