George Floyd killing: Tou Thao and J Alexander Kueng to begin federal term Tuesday
MINNEAPOLIS — Two of the four former Minneapolis police officers who were convicted of violating George Floyd's civil rights during the May 2020 restraint that killed him are scheduled to begin serving their federal sentences Tuesday.
J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao are scheduled to report to the U.S. Marshals Service on Tuesday morning. The Bureau of Prisons typically would assign them to a federal facility, but authorities have not publicly said where they will go. They are scheduled to go to trial on state charges of aiding and abetting both murder and manslaughter later this month.
Messages left with their attorneys were not returned. The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office said it anticipates Kueng and Thao will be transferred into its custody for the trial, but further specifics were not provided for security reasons. Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill issued an order Monday saying the sheriff's office must provide the men with access to three sets of clothing for the trial — as well as for two hearings scheduled for later this week — further suggesting that they will be in local custody.
There is nothing in the public record to indicate that Kueng's and Thao's federal sentences have been delayed. The U.S. Marshals Service said the officers were not in its custody on Monday.
The federal Bureau of Prisons said it cannot release information about Kueng and Thao until they arrive at their destination. But in the cases of their co-defendants — former officers Derek Chauvin and Thomas Lane — a federal prison assignment was made public before the men reported to custody.
Kueng, Thao and Lane were convicted earlier this year of depriving Floyd of his right to medical care as the 46-year-old Black man was pinned under Chauvin's knee for 9 1/2 minutes while handcuffed and facedown on the street. Kueng knelt on Floyd's back, Lane held his legs and Thao kept bystanders back.
Thao and Kueng were also convicted of a second count for failing to intervene and stop Chauvin during the killing, which was captured in bystander video and sparked worldwide protests as part of a reckoning over racial injustice.
In July, U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson sentenced Kueng to three years in prison and Thao to 3½ years on the federal counts. After their sentences, there were questions about whether they would take a plea deal on the state aiding and abetting charges. But they told Cahill in August that they rejected plea agreements in the state case.
Their state trial begins Oct. 24 with jury selection; opening statements are set for Nov. 7.
Lane avoided a state trial by pleading guilty in May to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to three years on the state conviction, and 2 1/2 years on the federal conviction. He is serving both sentences concurrently at a low-security federal prison camp in Littleton, Colorado.
Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter and was given a 22 1/2-year state sentence in 2021. He also pleaded guilty to a federal count of violating Floyd's civil rights and was sentenced to 21 years on the federal charge. He is serving the sentences at the same time at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona.
