Justice in the George Floyd Case: Sentences for Kueng and Thao
In a federal courtroom this week, former Minneapolis police officers J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao were sentenced to three years and three and a half years in prison, respectively. The sentences followed the jurists’ findings that they violated the civil rights of George Floyd by failing to protect him during an encounter that resulted in his death in May 2020.
Kueng and Thao, along with former colleague Thomas Lane, had previously been found in federal court in February to have deprived Floyd of his constitutional right not to be subjected to deliberate indifference to his medical needs while in custody. The court noted there was a clear risk to Floyd when he required care, and the officers’ actions or inactions contributed to the harm he suffered.
Lane, another Minneapolis police officer involved in the same incident, received a sentence of two and a half years in prison in late July for violations of Floyd’s constitutional rights during the arrest that led to his death. The different sentencing outcomes reflect the varying roles each officer played in the sequence of events on that day.
Prosecutors had requested substantial scrutiny of the officers’ conduct, a point reported by The Washington Post. The request suggested that Kueng and Thao deserved longer sentences than Lane, though the sentences stopped short of the punishment meted out to Derek Chauvin, the former officer deemed primarily responsible for Floyd’s death. Chauvin received a sentence that has remained central to ongoing public discussions about accountability and criminal justice reform following months of nationwide and global demonstrations.
Floyd’s arrest occurred after an alleged attempt to pay for a pack of cigarettes with a counterfeit bill. The officers’ actions during and after the arrest have been scrutinized extensively, with Floyd ultimately becoming restrained on the ground in the prone position that drew intense criticism and sparked widespread protests around the world.
Chauvin’s conduct—kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes despite clear warnings that Floyd could not breathe—was captured on video and disseminated broadly. The video became a powerful symbol in the debate over policing practices and the use of force, influencing discussions about training, supervision, and accountability within law enforcement agencies. The broader aftermath included policy reviews, civil rights conversations, and renewed calls for reforms in many jurisdictions.