The last two ex-cops involved in George Floyd's death have been sentenced to prison for the fatal arrest but the victim's girlfriend was "saddened" by the apparently "light sentence."
The two former Minneapolis officers sentenced were those who kept bystanders away from Floyd and who helped pin the victim down as he struggled to breathe. The former officers were each sentenced to several years of imprisonment on Wednesday and are the last two of the four ex-cops involved in the Black man's death to be ordered to prison.
Former Police Sentenced to Prison
A federal judge sentenced the two suspects, former officers Tou Thao and K. Alexander Kueng after a jury convicted them earlier this year of violating Floyd's rights. They allegedly failed to provide medical aid and failed to intervene as another officer, their superior, Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee on the victim's neck for more than nine minutes.
Judge Paul Magnuson sentenced Thao, who kept a crowd of people away from the officers and Floyd, to three and a half years while sentencing Kueng, who helped pin the victim to the ground, to three years, as per the New York Times.
He noted that Thao was the more experienced officer and had already been on the force since 2008 while Kueng was only a rookie officer. The death of the 46-year-old Black man prompted protests against police abuse and racism across the United States in the spring and summer of 2020 and was joined by millions of Americans.
Previously, a state jury convicted Chauvin, a 46-year-old white male, on murder and manslaughter charges last year. He was also sentenced to 21 years in prison after pleading guilty to federal charges of violating Floyd's rights.
According to BBC, the remaining officer, Thomas K Lane, was sentenced last week to two-and-a-half years in prison. He was the first at the scene with Chauvin and held Floyd's legs as he gasped for air.
George Floyd's Death
Footage of the incident showed him asking his superior twice if Floyd should be rolled onto his side so he could breathe. Chauvin was a field training officer to both Lane and Kueng at the time of the incident.
Neither of the two officers spoke at their sentencing hearings, but in a statement to the court on Wednesday, Thao insisted he had been "born again" after he was jailed over Floyd's murder. The ex-cop's statement read, "When I walked into that jail cell, I grabbed a Bible, and I searched for it, I searched for an answer to all this wickedness, and I couldn't find it."
Floyd's girlfriend, Courtney Ross, in victim impact statements to both men ahead of their sentencing, said that Floyd was the love of her life. She argued that the victim was not trying to resist that day and was just scared of what was happening.
Ross also addressed Kueng directly with compassion, telling him that the sentence will not define him, and urged him to "define your purpose." She added that it was not impossible for the ex-cop to find his footing to stand up for what is right in the future, ABC News reported.
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