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Former Minneapolis police officer J Alexander Kueng’s sentence is ‘one other piece of justice’ for Floyd household, lawyer says.
A former United States police officer has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail for his function within the dying of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man whose Might 2020 killing by the hands of Minneapolis police set off a wave of mass protests.
J Alexander Kueng appeared for a sentencing listening to in Hennepin County District Courtroom on Friday, becoming a member of by way of video hyperlink from a federal jail in Ohio, the place he’s already serving a three-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights.
He had pleaded responsible in October to state prices of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, and each sentences shall be served on the similar time.
“Mr Kueng was not merely a bystander that day. He did lower than what a few of the bystanders tried to do in serving to Mr Floyd,” stated Matthew Frank, who led the prosecution effort for the Minnesota legal professional common’s workplace.
Floyd was killed on Might 25, 2020, when one other Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, handcuffed him and kneeled on his neck for greater than 9 minutes whereas Floyd repeatedly stated that he couldn’t breathe and bystanders implored the officer to cease.
Keung was one of many three different officers current on the scene, and he kneeled on Floyd’s again whereas Chauvin kneeled on his neck.
Floyd’s dying sparked outrage and helped ignite an enormous protest motion for racial justice and larger accountability for police, with 1000’s of individuals taking part in demonstrations world wide.
Lawyer Ben Crump, who has represented the Floyd household, stated in an announcement earlier than Friday’s listening to that Kueng’s sentencing “delivers one more piece of justice for the Floyd household”.
“Whereas the household faces one more vacation season with out George, we hope that moments like these proceed to carry them a measure of peace, understanding that George’s dying was not in useless,” Crump stated.
In February, Keung and fellow officers Tou Thao and Thomas Lane have been discovered responsible in federal court docket of violating Floyd’s civil rights and depriving him of medical care.
They acquired jail sentences starting from two and a half to 3 and a half years, and a plea deal by Keung implies that he’ll serve his three-and-a-half-year sentence on state prices concurrently together with his three-year federal sentence.
In his state plea settlement, Keung admitted that he knew from his coaching that restraining a handcuffed particular person in a susceptible place got here with critical dangers and that utilizing the approach on Floyd was unreasonable beneath the circumstances.
Chauvin acquired a 21-year jail sentence in July on federal prices of violating Floyd’s civil rights. He additionally was sentenced final yr to 22.5 years in jail after being discovered responsible of homicide in a state case.
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