ST PAUL, MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The federal trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s rights resumed yesterday, after it was abruptly suspended last week because one of the defendants tested positive for COVID-19.
J Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao are accused of depriving Floyd of his rights when they failed to give him medical aid as Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on the Black man’s neck for nine and a half minutes while Floyd was handcuffed, facedown and gasping for air.
Meanwhile, Kueng and Thao are also accused of failing to intervene in the May 2020 killing that triggered protests worldwide and a re-examination of racism and policing.
The trial, which was in the middle of its second week, was halted last Wednesday when Judge Paul Magnuson said one of the defendants had tested positive.
The defendant wasn’t named, but Kueng and Thao were in court that day and Lane was not. Lane’s attorney declined to say whether his client had COVID-19.
