A federal trial arraignment date has been set for former Minneapolis police officers Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane, three of the four officers involved in the death of George Floyd. As The Root previously reported, Minneapolis Judge Peter Cahill ruled Thursday that the state trial for the three defendants—in which they are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder, as well as aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter—will be postponed until March 2022 so that the federal trial can proceed first. In that indictment, the three former officers, as well as ex-officer Derek Chauvin, are accused of violating Floyd’s civil rights.
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CNN reported that an August 2 federal trial date had been set for Thao, Kueng and Lane. However, the Washington Post reports that “an amended schedule filed later said the trial would occur on a ‘date to be determined,’” and that “a note in the court docket said the initial scheduling order ‘was filed in error.’”
What has been confirmed is that the three defendants will be arraigned on July 14 in a St. Paul, Mn., court where they will plead to charges that they violated Floyd’s constitutional rights. Chauvin—who was found guilty of second-degree murder in Floyd’s death last month—will be tied separately. His federal trial date has not yet been scheduled.
From CNN:
Thao, Kueng and Lane are accused of “deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs,” according to the indictment.
Thao and Kueng were indicted as defendants who “willfully failed to intervene to stop Defendant Chauvin’s use of unreasonable force.”
Thao, Kueng and Lane appeared in federal court last Friday via video conference, and all three were released on $25,000 unsecured bonds, meaning they didn’t have to post any collateral.
The indictment also specified that “the defendants saw George Floyd lying on the ground in clear need of medical care and willfully failed to aid Floyd.”
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