Four former police officers have been indicted on federal civil rights charges tied to the murder of George Floyd. The indictment alleges that Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane "willfully failed to aid Floyd" as he called out for medical attention on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
"Chauvin held his left knee across George Floyd's neck, and his right knee on Floyd's back and arm, as George Floyd lay on the ground, handcuffed and unresisting, and kept his knees on Floyd's neck and body even after Floyd became unresponsive," the indictment states.
"This offense resulted in bodily injury to, and the death of George Floyd."
Adding on, Chauvin has also been hit with a separate set of charges tied to an incident in 2017. He is accused of violating the civil rights of a 14-year-old boy when he struck him in the head and then holding him down for 17 minutes as he called out for help. Thankfully, the teenager did live, but he required stitches and further medical support.
Chauvin received these charges less than a month after being convicted of murdering Floyd last May. His sentencing hearing is set for June and he faces up to 40 years in prison, but will likely face less than half of that time. However, pending federal civil rights charges could influence his sentence or potentially affect the date of his hearing. Meanwhile, Thao, Keung and Lane await a trial of their own in August. Chauvin's three former colleagues have been charged with aiding and abetting the murder and manslaughter that he was just convicted of.
Neither Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson, nor the three other officers involved have issued a statement regarding this matter. Details regarding this story are developing at the moment.
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