Former Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao has been found guilty of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd in May 2020. Floyd, a Black man, died after police officer Derek Chauvin pinned him to the ground with his knee on his neck for nine and a half minutes. Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter in April 2021. Two other officers, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, had already pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting charges. Thao’s conviction marks the final criminal case related to Floyd’s death.
The ruling came down from Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill, who found Thao guilty of knowingly aiding the other three officers in committing the crime by “encouraging the other officers, and assisting their crime by holding back concerned bystanders.” According to the judge’s decision, Thao’s actions were “not authorized by law” and “objectively unreasonable.”
Thao waived his right to a trial by jury in favor of the bench trial with Judge Cahill, who will sentence him next month. If Judge Cahill follows Minnesota guidelines for sentencing, Thao will serve four years in prison concurrently with his 3.5-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights.
Thao maintained his innocence throughout the trial, but prosecution witnesses testified that he had held back bystanders and prevented an off-duty firefighter from providing Floyd medical aid. A prosecution witness had also testified that Floyd had displayed none of the symptoms of “excited delirium,” which Thao had suggested he was experiencing.
The killing of George Floyd sparked protests across the US and beyond, calling for an end to police brutality and systemic racism. Floyd’s family and supporters gathered in Minneapolis to mark the two-year anniversary of his death, calling for police reform and justice for victims of police brutality.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison praised Thao’s conviction, calling it “one more measure of accountability in the tragic death of George Floyd” and urging Congress to pass a police overhaul bill named for Floyd.
Thao’s conviction, along with the guilty verdicts of Chauvin, Kueng, and Lane, serves as a significant step in the fight for racial justice and police accountability. However, there is still much work to be done to address systemic racism within law enforcement and to prevent future acts of police brutality.
