Ex-Minneapolis officer sentenced for conviction in George Floyd’s killing

A former Minneapolis police officer who held back concerned bystanders while other officers restrained George Floyd as the man begged for breath and ultimately lost a pulse was sentenced to 57 months in prison on a state charge of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s 2020 death.

Tou Thao, 37, was previously convicted of violating Floyd’s federal civil rights and is already serving a 42-month federal prison sentence.

In a Monday morning court hearing in Minneapolis, Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter A. Cahill sentenced Thao to four years and nine months on the state charge related to Floyd’s killing – the maximum sentence under Minnesota guidelines and a term longer than the 51 months requested by prosecutors.

Thao, who will be allowed to serve the state sentence concurrently with his federal sentence, addressed the court for more than 20 minutes before Cahill rendered his decision. He did not apologize or express regret for his role in the events that led to Floyd’s death but delivered a biblical sermon in which he appeared to liken his legal plight to the suffering of Jesus.

“Hold onto the truth that I did not commit these crimes. My conscience is clear,” Thao told the court. “I will not be a Judas or join a mob in self-preservation or betray my God.”

Cahill appeared frustrated. “To be perfectly honest, after three years of reflection I was hoping for a little more remorse, regret, acknowledgment of some responsibility and less preaching,” the judge told Thao as he announced his sentence.

Thao’s sentencing comes more than three years after Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020. It resolves one of the last pending cases against the former officers charged in Floyd’s killing, which sparked international protests and a reckoning on race and policing that continues to play out across a deeply divided America.

Floyd died after then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knees into the man’s neck and back for more than nine minutes as officers sought to arrest him for allegedly passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a local market. Two other officers at the scene – J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas K. Lane – restrained Floyd’s back and legs, while Thao, who was Chauvin’s partner that day, held back increasingly frantic bystanders, who urged Thao and the officers to check Floyd’s pulse when he lost consciousness.

Thao has long defended his actions, testifying that his job at the scene was to be a “human traffic cone” and that he was unaware of Floyd’s condition or what was happening behind him. His claims have been contradicted by extensive video of the scene, including footage from police body cameras, that showed him repeatedly looking back toward Floyd and the other officers.

Thao’s Monday sentencing marks the latest turn in a long legal odyssey for ex-Minneapolis officers in the Floyd case.

Chauvin, 47, was convicted of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges and sentenced to 22½ years in prison – a conviction upheld by the Minnesota Court of Appeals. The Minnesota Supreme Court declined to take up Chauvin’s appeal for a new trial last month, and an attorney for Chauvin has indicated plans to appeal that decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Unlike the other three former officers, Thao has continued to deny any wrongdoing in Floyd’s death. In August last year, the former officer told Cahill during a hearing over plea offers that it would be “a lie and a sin” for him to plead guilty in the case – a declaration that later led to a bench trial where Cahill determined Thao’s fate on state charges.

On Monday, Thao did offer one apology in court – to Cahill, telling the judge that he hoped he had not offended him by telling him it would be a “sin” for him to accept a plea deal.

“I don’t know if we are brothers in Christ,” Thao told Cahill. The former officer told Cahill he and his wife had been praying for him.

“I have prayed for everyone here,” Thao told the court, glancing around at a mostly empty courtroom. “If there’s anything I can pray for, you’ll know where to find me.”