Cop who held Floyd's legs as Derek Chauvin pinned him is sentenced

Ex-cop who held George Floyd’s legs as Derek Chauvin pinned him down is sentenced to 30 months in prison for violating Floyd’s civil rights

• Former officer Thomas Lane was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Thursday for his role in the 2020 death of George Floyd  
• Judge Paul Magnuson said Lane’s role was ‘a very serious offense in which life was lost’
• Magnuson told Lane the ‘fact that you did not get up and remove Mr. Chauvin when Mr. Floyd became unconscious is a violation of the law’
• Lane was a ‘rookie officer’ who began his job at the Minneapolis Police Department a few days before the incident

A former Minneapolis police officer who held George Floyd’s legs as Officer Derek Chauvin pinned his knee to Floyd’s neck was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison on Thursday.

Judge Paul Magnuson called Thomas Lane’s role in Floyd’s death ‘a very serious offense in which life was lost.’

‘[The] fact that you did not get up and remove Mr. Chauvin when Mr. Floyd became unconscious is a violation of the law,’ Magnuson said.

Lane was one of the three officers who observed as Chauvin pinned Floyd for nearly 9.5 minutes in May 2020 – while Floyd pled that he could not breathe. Floyd’s death ignited various protests and riots around the world over racial injustice in policing.

During the hearing, Magnuson held up 145 letters he received supporting Lane. The judge said he had never received so many on behalf of a defendant. 

‘It speaks loudly to this case,’ Magnuson said. 

Thomas Lane was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Thursday for his role in the death of George Floyd

Lane had only been on the job a few days when the incident with Floyd occurred. The photo above was taken on June 3, 2020

Magnuson further claimed Lane was a rookie officer who started at Minneapolis Police Department a few days before the incident. He further faulted the police department for sending another rookie officer on the call that day.

Lane’s 30-month sentence granted is lower than prosecutors and Floyd’s family anticipated. Prosecutors asked for Lane to spend at least five years in prison – the low end of federal guidelines.

‘Officer Lane did not intervene in one way or another,’ Floyd’s brother, Philonise, told Magnuson while urging the judge to grant a harsher sentence.

Prosecutor Manda Sertich further added that Lane ‘chose not to act’ to save Floyd’s life.

‘There has to be a line where blindly following a senior officer’s lead, even for a rookie officer, is not acceptable,’ she said.

Philonise Floyd didn’t understand the judge’s short sentencing, saying it was ‘insulting.’ He further claimed Lane was ‘an accessory to murder.

‘To me, I think this whole criminal system needs to be torn down and rebuilt,’ he said.

Lane didn’t speak at Thursday’s sentencing.

George Floyd’s brother, Philonise, was upset former officer Lane didn’t receive a lengthier sentencing. ‘To me, I think this whole criminal system needs to be torn down and rebuilt,’ Philonise said

At the trial, Lane’s attorney, Earl Gray, said the officer ‘did everything he could possibly do to help George Floyd.’ Gray said Lane suggested Floyd be rolled on his side so he could breathe – a comment ignored by Chauvin.

Lane also attempted to perform CPR to revive Floyd, Gray said.

The former officer previously testified that he didn’t realize how severe Floyd’s condition was until he was flipped over by the paramedics.

In May, Lane pleaded guilty in state court to one charge of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. At the time, Gray said the former officer was hoping to avoid a long sentence since ‘he has a newborn baby and did not want to risk not being part of the child’s life.’

J. Alexander Kueng (left), Thomas Lane (middle) and Tou Thao (right) were convicted of playing a role in the death of George Floyd. Lane received his sentence on Thursday while the other two will appear in court for their sentencing at a later date. Pictured here on June 3, 2020

Lane was convicted earlier this year for depriving Floyd of his right to medical care and not intervening to stop Chauvin. Officers J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao were also convicted and will be sentenced at a later date. 

Kueng pinned Floyd’s back during the incident and Thao held bystanders back from intervening outside a store where Floyd attempted to pay with a counterfeit $20 bill.

Kueng and Thao remain free on bond until their sentencing on Oct. 24.

Chauvin pleaded guilty in December to Floyd’s killing and to another civil rights charge in an unrelated case involving a Black teenager.

He was sentenced earlier this month to 21 years in federal prison.

Chauvin, now 46, knelt on the neck of George Floyd for over nine minutes as he lay dying on the street in May 2020

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