{"id":25888,"date":"2023-08-08T04:45:42","date_gmt":"2023-08-08T08:45:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=25888"},"modified":"2023-08-08T04:45:42","modified_gmt":"2023-08-08T08:45:42","slug":"tou-thao-ex-officer-in-george-floyd-case-gets-57-months-for-role-in-killing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2023\/08\/08\/tou-thao-ex-officer-in-george-floyd-case-gets-57-months-for-role-in-killing\/","title":{"rendered":"Tou Thao: Ex-officer in George Floyd case gets 57 months for role in killing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A former Minneapolis police officer has been sentenced to 57 months (almost five years) in prison for his role in the death of George Floyd.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The officer, Tou Thao, was found guilty of aiding and abetting manslaughter by a Minnesota judge in May.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Thao testified that he acted as a “human traffic cone”, holding back bystanders while Derek Chauvin knelt on Mr Floyd’s neck for nearly 10 minutes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Floyd’s death on 25 May 2020 sparked mass protests across the US.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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All four former police officers involved in the incident were convicted on federal civil rights charges, in addition to state murder charges for Mr Chauvin. Ex-officers Thomas Lane and J Alexander Kueng pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Thao, who was sentenced to three and a half years over his civil rights conviction, will serve the 57 months at the same time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The former officer had waived his right to a jury trial in the manslaughter case, opting instead for Judge Peter Cahill to determine the verdict. He also waived the right to testify and question witnesses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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