Ex-Minneapolis Police Officers Plead Not Guilty To Violating George Floyd’s Civil Rights

[Valin]

The Daily Wire

Tim Pearce

Sep 15, 2021

Four former Minneapolis police officers pleaded not guilty to violating George Floyd’s civil rights in a federal court on Tuesday.

Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng, and Tou Thao appeared in court via videoconference to make their pleas. Chauvin, who was convicted of murdering Floyd earlier this year, joined from a room in a Minnesota maximum-security prison, according to USA Today.

A federal grand jury indicted all four officers in May of allegedly violating Floyd’s civil rights when they restrained him while attempting to arrest him last May. Chauvin, who was shown restraining Floyd with a knee on Floyd’s upper body, was convicted of murder over his part in the arrest.

Kueng and Thao have petitioned the federal court to hold their trials separately from Chauvin’s. The two former officers argue that being tried alongside Chauvin would prejudice the jury against them and, as a result, they may not get a fair trial. Lane has asked the court to let him join Kueng and Thao’s request.

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