The three other officers involved in the death of George Floyd have been arrested and charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder, and aiding and abetting manslaughter.
The Minnesota Attorney General, Keith Ellison, made the announcement.
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Thomas Lane, J. Aleander Kueng, and Tou Thao were the three officers who had not been arrested or charged with any crimes in the incident that occurred on May 25th. Derek Chauvin, the officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck and stopped his ability to get air, was arrested last week and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
Chauvin’s charges have now been upped to second-degree murder and his bail increased to $1 million. With the second-degree charge, it now says that Chauvin killed Floyd “without intent.”
While Chauvin’s arrest was made last week, many people became upset for the lack of consequences for the other officers. While they were not the ones who physically harmed Floyd, they still stood by and did nothing to stop the incident.
Lane, Kueng, and Thao are all being held on $1 million bail as well.
Tom Plunkett, Kueng’s attorney, said that his client was asked to turn himself in for the charges and within 15 minutes, he was in police custody.
Aiding and abetting second-degree murder can be punished by up to 40 years in prison, with aiding and abetting manslaughter punishable by up to 10 years.
The two autopsies performed on Floyd showed that he died of asphyxiation, as a result of Chauvin kneeling on his neck. After the incident, all four officers were fired and the Minneapolis Police Chief, Medaria Arradondo, said they were all “complicit” in the death. Floyd’s family and protestors across the country called for their arrest and facing of justice for their actions.
Video evidence of the incident shows Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, with Floyd claiming he couldn’t breathe. However, Chauvin did not move, even when Lane, twice, asked if they could move him to his side. Three of the minutes that Chauvin knelt on him, Floyd was unresponsive.
While these arrests and alleged charges are a step in the right direction, we can only hope that justice is served, and all four officers are convicted of this tragic crime. We must continue to work towards fixing these issues that exist within our systems, and continue to work on honoring the memory of George Floyd through change.
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