Former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane has pleaded guilty this Wednesday to aiding and abetting the involuntary manslaughter of George Floyd, the African-American man who died in 2020 in Minnesota when a police officer knelt on his neck, according to the ‘Minneapolis Star Tribune’ and collects Reuters.
Lane has entered his guilty plea before Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill. He has agreed to a three-year prison sentence in exchange for prosecutors dropping a charge of accessory to second-degree murder, the newspaper reports.
The other two former police officers linked to his death, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng, are scheduled to stand trial in June on charges of complicity in second-degree murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death.
In February, the three were federally convicted of depriving George Floyd of his civil rights by failing to assist him while he was handcuffed and pinned under the knee of his partner, Derek Chauvin, for more than nine minutes.
Floyd’s murder sparked protests in cities around the world against police brutality and racism. Chauvin, who is white, was sentenced last year to 22 1/2 years in prison after a state murder trial. In his case, he has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of violating Floyd’s civil rights.
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