FILE PHOTO: (L-R) Former Minneapolis police officers Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng in a combination of booking photographs from the Minnesota Department of Corrections and Hennepin County Jail in Minneapolis, Minnesota. U.S. Minnesota Department of Corrections and Hennepin County Sheriff鈥檚 Office/Handout via REUTERS
ST. PAUL, Minn. 鈥� Three former Minneapolis officers broke the law by failing to stop Derek Chauvin from killing George Floyd during an arrest and were indifferent to the handcuffed Black man鈥檚 dying pleas, a prosecutor told a jury in opening statements in the federal trial on Monday.
Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane are charged with violating Floyd鈥檚 civil rights during his arrest on a road outside a Minneapolis grocery store in May 2020, video of which sparked street protests against racism and police brutality around the world.
In opening a trial that hinges on when a police officer has a duty to intervene in a colleague鈥檚 misconduct, federal prosecutor Samantha Trepel, from the U.S. Department of Justice鈥檚 civil rights division, said the defendants had broken their oath with a callous indifference to Floyd, 46.
She said video captured how Kueng at times seemed more preoccupied with some gravel lodged in the tire of the nearby police car than the man beneath him repeatedly saying: 鈥淚 can鈥檛 breathe.鈥�
Their lawyers argued that widely seen cellphone video of Floyd鈥檚 killing does not capture chaotic and even frightening events leading up to an arrest in a dangerous neighborhood.
Two of the defendants were rookies only a few days into the job, they noted, while Thao was described by his lawyer as nothing more than a 鈥渉uman traffic cone鈥� who made sure onlookers and passing vehicles stayed clear.
Last year, the defendants鈥� former colleague Chauvin, 45, was found guilty of murder and manslaughter in Floyd鈥檚 death at the end of a nationally televised state trial in April 2021, and a Minnesota judge sentenced him to 22-1/2 years in prison.
Chauvin, who is white, was also charged alongside his colleagues by federal prosecutors with violating Floyd鈥檚 civil rights in their capacity as police officers. Chauvin changed his plea to guilty last December. Thao, Kueng and Lane, who could face years in prison if convicted, have all pleaded not guilty.
鈥淔or more than nine minutes, each of the three defendants made a conscious choice over and over again not to act,鈥� Trepel told the jury. 鈥淭hey chose not to intervene and stop Chauvin as he killed a man slowly in front of their eyes on a public street in broad daylight.鈥�
She said that the officers had sworn an oath to care for people in their custody, and were required by law to stop Chauvin and give Floyd medical aid.
Defense lawyers say the three defendants had a duty to arrest Floyd on suspicion he used a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes, and were not criminally liable for the conduct of Chauvin, who they deferred to as the most senior officer present.
Earl Gray, a lawyer for Lane, said Floyd was visibly intoxicated when Lane and Kueng first approached him and struggled against being put into the back of their police car.
鈥淗e was all muscle,鈥� Gray said. 鈥淭hese two rookies simply could not get this fellow in the back seat and were clearly doing something wrong. So what does Chauvin do? He takes over and he grabs the guy and he puts him on the ground.鈥�
Floyd鈥檚 girlfriend, Courteney Ross, said during a recess that the defendants were shirking responsibility and trying to blame Floyd for his own death.
鈥淚 know that when someone is crying out for help, the right thing to do is help them,鈥� she said.
鈥楧eliberate indifference鈥�
Prosecutors are seeking to convince the jury in the U.S. District Court in St. Paul that the men willfully failed to help Floyd during what Trepel called Chauvin鈥檚 鈥渟low-motion killing.鈥� The indictment says a person under arrest has a right to 鈥渂e free from a police officer鈥檚 deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs.鈥�
Thao, 36, and Kueng, 28, face an additional count in the indictment, which says they willfully failed to stop Chauvin using excessive force against Floyd, violating Floyd鈥檚 right to be free from unreasonable seizure.
Thao had worked for the Minneapolis Police Department for eight years. Lane, 38, and Kueng, who helped restrain Floyd鈥檚 lower body, had joined only a few months prior, and Chauvin was their field training officer.
Kueng was 鈥渁 rookie officer鈥� on his third shift ever on the job and was let down by his seniors with 鈥渋nadequate training,鈥� his lawyer Thomas Plunkett told the jury. Lane would take the stand in his own defense, his lawyer said.
The jury will hear from other Minneapolis police officers that the defendants were trained in how to administer medical aid to people in their custody, and taught that moving Floyd onto his side could have saved his life, Trepel said.
They will also hear from some of the horrified bystanders who shouted at the officers to check Floyd鈥檚 pulse, Trepel said.
鈥淎fter Mr. Floyd lost the ability to speak, the people on the sidewalk stood up for him,鈥� Trepel told the jury. 鈥淭hey understood just by seeing his body go limp, listening to his words and then listening to his silence that, unless somebody changed what was happening, he would die.鈥�
After the federal trial, the three men face a state trial for aiding and abetting Floyd鈥檚 murder.