The US police officer who knelt on George Floyd has been charged with aiding manslaughter

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Matthew Frank, who led the prosecution in the Minnesota Attorney General’s office, said repeatedly during the hearing that Mr Floyd was a crime victim and that the prosecution “focused on the officers” who caused his death. He added that the case was not intended as a broader examination of the police, but added that he hoped it would reaffirm that police officers cannot treat “those in crisis as non-people or second-class citizens”.

“Mr. King wasn’t a bystander that day,” Frank said. “He did less than some bystanders tried to do to help Floyd.”

King’s attorney, Thomas Plunkett, blamed the Minneapolis Police Department’s leadership and lack of training for Floyd’s death. He highlighted Kueng’s status as a rookie – saying he had only been working alone for three days – and accused department leadership of failing to implement training to encourage officers to step in when a colleague does something wrong.

“On behalf of Mr. King,” he said, “I am not calling for justice. I am calling for progress.”

Then-Commander Medaria Arradondo fired Kong and the three other officers the day after Mr Floyd was killed and later testified at Chauvin’s trial that the officers had not followed through on training. The former head of training for the department also testified that the officers acted in a manner inconsistent with the department’s policies.

The ruling on King brings the cases against all of the former officers a step closer to resolution, though the state’s case against Thao is still pending.

Thao told Judge Peter Cahill earlier that it “would be lying” to plead guilty. In October, he agreed to the so-called trial of evidence set forth in the charge of aiding and abetting manslaughter. As part of the process, his attorneys and prosecutors work to prepare agreed evidence in his case and provide written closing arguments. Judge Cahill will then decide whether or not Thao is guilty.

If Thao is convicted, the murder charge – which carries a 12.5-year prison sentence – will be dropped.

Chauvin, who is white, was convicted last year of first-degree murder and manslaughter and is serving 22.5 years in the state case. He also pleaded guilty to a federal charge of violating Floyd’s civil rights and was sentenced to 21 years in prison. He is concurrently serving sentences at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona.

Kueng, Lin and Thao were convicted of federal charges in February: All three were convicted of denying Mr. Floyd his right to medical care, Thao and Kueng were also convicted of failing to intervene to stop Chauvin during the killing.

Lane, who is white, is serving his 2.5-year federal sentence at a facility in Colorado. He’s serving a three-year prison sentence at the same time. King, who is black, was sentenced to three years in prison on federal charges; Thao, a Hmong American, was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison.

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