UPDATE FEBRUARY 24, 2022:
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Three former Minneapolis police officers have been convicted of violating George Floyd’s civil rights. Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane were charged with depriving Floyd of his right to medical care when Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes as the 46-year-old Black man was handcuffed and facedown on the street on May 25, 2020. Thao and Lane were also charged with failing to intervene to stop Chauvin. The videotaped killing sparked protests in Minneapolis that spread around the globe as part of reckoning over racial injustice. Chauvin was convicted of murder last year (2021) in state court and pleaded guilty in December 2021 in the federal case. Kueng knelt on Floyd’s back, Lane held his legs and Thao kept bystanders back.
UPDATE FEBRUARY 14, 2022:
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — After nearly three weeks of testimony, federal prosecutors are expected to rest their case against three former Minneapolis police officers who are charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights. Prosecutors said Friday that they plan to rest their case against J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao on Monday (Feb. 14, 2022). All three are accused of depriving Floyd of medical care when Officer Dereck Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck. Thao and Kueng are also charged with failing to stop Chauvin. Once the prosecution rests, the defense attorneys will start presenting their witnesses. The attorney for Lane has said his client will testify. Attorneys for Thao and Kueng haven’t said if they would take the stand.
UPDATE FEBRUARY 8, 2022:
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A Minneapolis police officer who oversaw medical training for two of the three former officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights is scheduled to resume testifying in their federal trial. Officer Nicole Mackenzie, the department’s medical support coordinator, is expected back on the witness stand Tuesday (Feb. 8, 2022) after testifying Monday that J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane were in a police academy “emergency medical responder” class that she taught, which covered first aid and ethics in care. Kueng, Lane and Thao are accused of depriving Floyd of his rights when they failed to give him medical aid as Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on the Black man’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes in 2020.
UPDATE FEBRUARY 1, 2022:
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The chief medical examiner who ruled George Floyd’s death a homicide will return to the stand Tuesday (Feb. 1, 2022) at the trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating Floyd’s civil rights. Prosecutors say Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao deprived Floyd of his rights when they failed to give him medical aid as Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck. Kueng and Thao are also accused of failing to intervene. Defense attorneys are trying to make the case that the officers’ training was inadequate and that the police department has a culture that teaches new officers to not question their superiors. They have said that Chauvin, the most senior officer on the scene, took charge the day Floyd was killed.
UPDATE JANUARY 27, 2022:
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Prosecutors in the federal trial of three former Minneapolis police officers in George Floyd’s killing are probing department training on use of force, including when to intervene to stop inappropriate force. The issues are at the heart of charges that they violated Floyd’s civil rights. Inspector Katie Blackwell said officers are trained to use the least amount of force necessary and on their duty to intervene. Prosecutors say the officers did nothing to stop fellow Officer Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes as he was handcuffed, facedown and gasping for air. Prosecutors say the officers also failed to start CPR after Floyd stopped breathing and officers couldn’t find a pulse.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The head of the Minneapolis Police Department’s training division at the time of George Floyd’s killing has testified that three officers on trial for allegedly violating Floyd’s civil rights would have been trained to use the least amount of force necessary. Inspector Katie Blackwell also said the officers had a duty to intervene to stop inappropriate force and to provide medical care. Prosecutors say the officers did nothing to stop fellow Officer Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes as he was handcuffed, facedown and gasping for air. Prosecutors say the officers also failed to start CPR after Floyd stopped breathing and officers couldn’t find a pulse.
UPDATE JANUARY 26, 2022:
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — First it was a paramedic, testifying that the officers who restrained George Floyd didn’t call in critical information as his ambulance rushed to the scene where Floyd would soon be pronounced dead. Then it was an off-duty firefighter, recounting her frustration that Floyd obviously “needed help and wasn’t getting it.” Prosecutors building their case against three fired Minneapolis police officers of violating Floyd’s civil rights turned Wednesday to some key witnesses who testified earlier at Derek Chauvin’s state murder trial. Prosecutors say the officers did nothing to stop Chauvin or to help Floyd, despite having basic medical training. Testimony resumes Thursday (Jan. 27, 2022).
UPDATE JANUARY 26, 2022:
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A bystander who says he feared George Floyd would die under the knee of Derek Chauvin wept Tuesday (Jan. 25, 2022) at the federal trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating Floyd’s civil rights. Prosecutors have said that even people without medical training knew Floyd needed help, but that officers with basic medical training did nothing. Officers J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao were there when Chauvin pinned Floyd’s neck to the ground with his knee for 9 1/2 minutes as the Black man was facedown in handcuffs and gasping for air. Chauvin was convicted of murder and pleaded guilty to a federal count of violating Floyd’s civil rights.
UPDATE JANUARY 25, 2022:
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Prosecutors have played videos from the scene of George Floyd’s arrest at the federal trial of three former Minneapolis police officers accused of violating Floyd’s civil rights as fellow Officer Derek Chauvin killed him. Officers J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao were at the scene May 25, 2020, as Chauvin pinned Floyd’s neck to the ground with his knee for 9 1/2 minutes as the Black man was facedown in handcuffs and gasping for air. Chauvin was convicted last year (2021) of murder and pleaded guilty to a federal count of violating Floyd’s civil rights. The other officers are charged with depriving Floyd of his civil rights while acting under government authority.
UPDATE JANUARY 24, 2022:
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Prosecutors in the trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights accused the men of standing by as fellow Officer Derek Chauvin “slowly killed George Floyd right in front of them.” One defense attorney countered Monday (Jan. 24, 2022) that Chauvin called “all of the shots” as the senior officer at the scene. Former Officers J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao, are broadly charged with depriving Floyd of his civil rights while acting under government authority. Floyd died after Chauvin pressed him to the ground with his knee on Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes while the 46-year-old Black man was facedown, handcuffed and gasping for air. Kueng knelt on Floyd’s back. Lane held down his legs. Thao kept bystanders from intervening.
UPDATE JANUARY 24, 2022:
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The federal trial for three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights as Derek Chauvin pinned the Black man’s neck to the street is set to begin Monday with opening statements. J. Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao are broadly charged with depriving Floyd of his civil rights while acting under government authority. All three are charged for failing to provide Floyd with medical care. Thao and Kueng face an additional count for failing to stop Chauvin, who was convicted of murder and manslaughter in state court last year. Legal experts say prosecutors must prove Kueng, Lane and Thao willfully violated Floyd’s constitutional rights. Defense attorneys are likely to blame Chauvin for the killing.
UPDATE JANUARY 21, 2022:
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A jury of 18 people who appeared mostly white was picked Thursday (Jan. 20, 2022) for the federal trial of three Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s killing. The judge told potential jurors the case has “absolutely nothing” to do with race. The jurors chosen to hear the case against former Officers Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Kueng appeared to include one person of Asian descent among the 12 jurors who would deliberate if no alternates are needed. A second person of Asian descent was among the six alternates, with all others appearing white. The court declined to provide demographic information.
UPDATE JANUARY 20, 2022:
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jury selection is scheduled to begin in the federal case against three former Minneapolis police officers who were with Derek Chauvin when he pinned George Floyd to the street. J. Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao are charged with depriving Floyd of his constitutional rights while acting under government authority. Starting Thursday (Jan. 20, 2022), jurors will be questioned by U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson. Jurors have already answered an extensive questionnaire. They will be brought into the court in groups. Legal experts say the federal case will be more complicated than a pending state case against the officers, because prosecutors will have the difficult task of proving the men willfully did not take action.
UPDATE JANUARY 18, 2022:
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A coalition of media groups says restrictions on access to the federal civil rights trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s death amount to an unconstitutional closing of the courtroom. Citing the risks of the pandemic, Judge Paul Magnuson has restricted the number of people who may be in his courtroom for the proceedings against Tou Thao, J. Kueng and Thomas Lane. They’re charged with depriving Floyd of his rights while acting under government authority. Jury selection begins Thursday. Magnuson has also restricted how much can be seen on a closed-circuit feed of the proceedings, which will be relayed to overflow rooms where only a limited number of journalists and members of the public can watch.
UPDATE JANUARY 12, 2022:
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota judge has agreed to delay a state court trial for three former Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s death, though he didn’t immediately set a date. Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill told attorneys to agree on a new date that’s within one year. They must inform the court by Sunday (Jan. 16, 2022). Cahill said if they cannot agree, the trial will remain set for March 7, 2022. Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao face charges of aiding and abetting both murder and manslaughter. Their attorneys and prosecutors sought to delay the trial because the three first have a federal trial on Jan. 20, 2022, on charges alleging they violated Floyd’s civil rights.
UPDATE JANUARY 11, 2022:
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights during an arrest that ended in his death are scheduled to appear in federal court for a pretrial conference. Tuesday’s (Jan. 11, 2022) hearing in St. Paul could address a host of issues, including what evidence will be allowed at trial. Tou Thao, J. Kueng and Thomas Lane face a Jan. 20, 2022, trial on federal charges alleging they deprived Floyd of his rights while acting under government authority. Their co-defendant, Derek Chauvin, was convicted on state murder and manslaughter charges and pleaded guilty last month to a federal count of violating Floyd’s civil rights.
JANUARY 7, 2022:
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Prosecutors and defense attorneys for three former Minneapolis officers who are charged in the death of George Floyd are asking a judge to postpone their state trial while a federal civil rights trial goes forward. Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao are scheduled to go to trial on state charges of aiding and abetting both murder and manslaughter on March 7. The three also face a federal trial on Jan. 20 on charges alleging they violated Floyd’s civil rights. Prosecutors and defense attorneys filed a request Friday to have the state trial postponed, saying it’s not known how long the federal trial will last. They’re asking for an informal conference to set a new trial date.
JANUARY 6, 2022:
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Three former Minneapolis police officers charged with federal civil rights violations in George Floyd’s death will go on trial Jan. 20, 2022. The trial date was given Thursday (Jan. 6, 2022) in a docket filing, with proceedings to be held in St. Paul. Court records in November 2021 showed that juror summonses had gone out for that date, but the new filing was the first official confirmation of it. Tou Thao, J. Kueng and Thomas Lane will stand trial about nine months after former Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020. Floyd’s killing was captured on video by a bystander and galvanized protests against police brutality around the U.S. and beyond.
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