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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Two former Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s death are heading to trial on state aiding and abetting counts, the third and likely final criminal proceeding in a killing that mobilized protesters worldwide against racial injustice in policing.
J. Alexander Kueng (above right) and Tou Thao (above left) have already been convicted of federal counts for violating Floyd’s civil rights and begun serving those sentences. Many witnesses expected to testify at their state trial have already done so at both their federal trial and at the state trial against their former colleague, Derek Chauvin.
While much of the evidence in this proceeding will look similar, there will be some key differences.
Here are a few things to know as jury selection gets underway Monday:
What is this trial about?
Kueng, Thao and Thomas Lane were working with Chauvin on May 25, 2020, when Chauvin, who is white, used his knee to pin Floyd’s neck to the pavement for more than nine minutes as the 46-year-old Black man said he couldn’t breathe and eventually grew still. Kueng knelt on Floyd’s back, Lane held his legs and Thao kept bystanders back.
Read more: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/2-former-minneapolis-police-officers-head-to-state-trial-for-aiding-george-floyds-killing
