In a ruling issued by a Minnesota judge in May, Thao was found guilty of aiding and abetting manslaughter.
During the trial, Thao claimed that he acted as a "human traffic cone," holding back bystanders while Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd's neck for almost 10 minutes. The tragic incident, which occurred on May 25, 2020, sparked mass protests across the United States, demanding justice for Floyd.
All four former police officers involved in the incident faced federal civil rights charges in addition to state murder charges against Mr. Chauvin. Ex-officers Thomas Lane and J Alexander Kueng pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
Thao received a three-and-a-half-year sentence for his civil rights conviction, and he will serve the 57-month sentence concurrently.
In the manslaughter case, Thao opted to waive his right to a jury trial, instead allowing Judge Peter Cahill to determine the verdict. He also chose not to testify or question witnesses during the trial.
In a comprehensive 177-page ruling issued in May, Judge Cahill stated that Thao's actions, which included shielding Chauvin and the other officers from the crowd, hindered a trained emergency medic from providing assistance to George Floyd.
The judge emphasized that Thao's actions were objectively unreasonable, viewed from the perspective of a reasonable police officer considering the totality of the circumstances. Moreover, Thao's actions were deemed even more unreasonable as he had a duty to intervene and stop other officers' excessive use of force, given his training to render medical aid.
The sentencing of Tou Thao marks another chapter in the ongoing pursuit of justice for George Floyd's death, a case that has garnered significant attention and sparked nationwide conversations about police accountability and reform. (ILKHA)