Ex-Minneapolis Cop Convicted in George Floyd Death Could Face Additional Prison Time

The last of the four former Minneapolis police officers involved in the death of George Floyd in 2020 will face sentencing in state court on Monday—and could face additional prison time.

Tou Thao is currently serving a three and 1/2-year sentence after being convicted on federal charges. He could face a maximum of four years and nine months in prison on a state charge of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.

The sentencing comes after an appellate judge upheld the federal conviction of Thao for violating the civil rights of Floyd on Friday.

During his testimony, Thao claimed he served as a “human traffic cone”  during the incident.

He was seen on video keeping concerned bystanders at bay when Floyd, an unarmed Black man, as Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, knelt on Floyd's neck for 9 1/2 minutes. Floyd was heard on the video saying,  “I can’t breathe.”

On Friday, the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that prosecutors supplied sufficient evidence to support convictions on two counts of depriving Floyd's rights under color of law, as Thao failed to intervene in former colleague Chauvin's use of unreasonable force and was "deliberately indifferent to Floyd's medical needs.”

Body camera video depicts Thao telling bystanders gathered at the scene "this is why you don't do drugs, kids." 

According to CBS News, he is also heard telling an off-duty Minneapolis firefighter to "back off" when she asks to check Floyd's pulse.

While Tao is currently serving a three and a half year sentence as part of his federal civil rights conviction, Monday's sentencing on state charges will determine whether more time will be added.

He remains  in custody in the Hennepin County jail and is expected to serve his additional sentence concurrently. 

“There is proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Thao’s actions were objectively unreasonable from the perspective of a reasonable police officer, when viewed under the totality of the circumstances,”  Judge Peter Cahill said in May after convicting him of aiding and abetting manslaughter.

“Thao’s actions were even more unreasonable in light of the fact that he was under a duty to intervene to stop the other officers’ excessive use of force and was trained to render medical aid.”

—With Associated Press reports