Update 10/24/2022 11:59am:

One of the two former Minneapolis police officers charged with aiding and abetting George Floyd’s killing—J. Alexander Kueng has pleaded guilty in his case. 

Kueng’s decision to plead guilty came as jury selection was about to begin for the joint trial set to take place in Hennepin County District Court. Kueng’s plea deal was announced, and his co-defendant Tou Thao has reportedly agreed not to go on with his state trial scheduled to start on Monday. Thao told Judge Peter Cahill he was giving up his right to a jury trial and agreed to a trial by stipulated evidence in its place. 

Kueng reportedly admitted to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter and creating unreasonable risk. As of now, Kueng is serving a federal prison sentence of 2 and a half to 3 and a half years. Kueng’s state sentence will be served concurrently with his federal sentence. 

source: AP News

Original 02/24/2022 7:04pm:

Derrick Chauvin may soon have company at the Minnesota Correctional Facility at Oak Park Heights. That is because the three other former police officers involved in the murder of George Floyd were all convicted of violating his civil rights by the court of law.

Unlike their imprisoned comrade, Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane did not participate in strangulating the victim but as guardians of the law, they did very little to prevent the incident from occurring. Ultimately, the three ex-cops offered their senior officer Derrick Chauvin more assistance on the scene than they did George Floyd, which viewpoint that was echoed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Manda Sertich. 

“They chose not to intervene, they chose not to aid Mr. Floyd," Sertich said during closing arguments on Tuesday. “This is a crime. The defendants are guilty as charged.”

The jury reached a unanimous decision that their negligence heavily contributed to Floyd's death. Before the hearing reached its conclusion inside the Warren E. Burger Federal Building at St. Paul, Minnesota, Judge Paul Magnuson ruled that the former cops would be allowed to leave provided that their bail was paid. The trio of former policemen will have the specifics of their sentences outlined in an upcoming hearing that has not been scheduled as of yet.

For more on this developing story, click the link below.

Source: The Daily Beast