Photo: CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP / Getty Images
For: Real America News Updated 20 Jan 2022, 21: 04 pm EST
After the conviction of 22 years in prison for white policeman Derek Chauvin for suffocating African-American George Floyd, the trial of three of his companions is approaching , who will be prosecuted for their lack of action to prevent his death.
Federal justice today began the selection of the 12 jurors who will have to decide on the guilt of Tou Thao, Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, accused of having violated US laws on the “civil rights” of Floyd.
Jury selection begins in the federal trial of three former Minneapolis officers, J. Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao, all charged in George Floyd’s death. https://t.co/OOOYjpQQJN
— ABC 7 Chicago (@ABC7Chicago) January 21, 2022
Specifically, are accused of not having given him help while he died under the knee of his colleague Chauvin on 25 May 2020 in Minneapolis.
That day, the four police officers participated in the operation to arrest the African American of 46 years old, suspected of having bought a pack of cigarettes with a counterfeit bill of 12 dollars. To control him, they knocked him to the ground, handcuffed him and each took their position.
Chauvin, a white man with 19 years of police experience, knelt on his neck; Alexander Kueng, a rookie black agent, was placed on his back; Thomas Lane, white, 25 years old and newly hired , held her legs; and Tou Thao, an Asian-American with eight years on the police force, kept bystanders at a distance, horrified by Floyd’s pleas and groans.
They stayed like that for almost ten minutes. The scene, filmed and released online, sparked huge protests against racism and police brutality across the United States and beyond, and continues to fuel reflection on that country’s racist past.
Saint-Paul reinforces security
The Minnesota justice then initiated a murder trial against Derek Chauvin and for complicity in the murder against his colleagues. In turn, federal prosecutors charged the four officers in May with “violating the civil rights” of Floyd, including liberty and security.
The three police officers will appear without Chauvin starting Thursday in a federal court in Saint-Paul, the twin city of Minneapolis, where security has been tightened. They are accused of not having provided the necessary assistance to Floyd, despite the signs of medical risk.
“They saw George Floyd lying on the ground, clearly in medical distress, and knowingly failed to provide assistance, acting with deliberate indifference,” according to the indictment.
The three men declare innocent. The two rookies are expected to insist during the trial on the authority exercised by Derek Chauvin, an experienced police officer.
The judge in charge has foreseen two days to select the jury and hopes to begin the substantive proceedings on Monday, which could last two weeks.
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