2 ex-cops charged in George Floyd killing reject plea deals

August 16, 2022
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Two former Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s killing told a judge Monday that they have rejected plea deals that would have resulted in three-year sentences, setting the stage for trial in October.

Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng are charged with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death. They and Thomas Lane were working with Derek Chauvin when he pinned Floyd’s neck with his knee for more than nine minutes as the 46-year-old Black man said he couldn’t breathe and eventually grew still.

The killing, captured on bystander video, sparked protests worldwide and reckoning racial injustice. Chauvin, who is white, was convicted of second-degree murder last year and sentenced to 22 1/2 years on the state charge.

Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill had set a limited window for accepting a plea deal ahead of trial, and Monday’s brief hearing served to formalize the two ex-officers’ rejections of the state’s offers.

“It would be lying for me to accept any plea offer,” said Thou, who held back concerned bystanders as Chauvin pinned Floyd. Kueng did not give his reasons for rejecting the state’s offer.