Hmong American ex-police officer convicted in allowing George Floyd to die

Former officer Tou Thao was found guilty in the death of George Floyd.

The Hmong American ex-police officer involved with the murder of George Floyd was found guilty Thursday.

Former Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao ignored bystanders who pleaded for someone to help George Floyd as Derek Chauvin knelt on him, according to prosecutors.

Thao, along with former officers J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane were convicted of violating George Floyd’s civil rights after they failed to get medical attention for him as Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd's neck, ending his life.

"Today's guilty verdicts should serve as the guiding example of why police departments across America should expand and prioritize instruction on an officer's duty to intervene and recognize when a fellow officer is using excessive force," wrote the George Floyd legal team in a statement Thursday. 

"With that being said, the existing policies were not on trial; rather, on trial were the human beings present when the breath was taken from an unarmed man right in front of them," continued the statement.

In closing arguments on Tuesday — part of a month-long federal trial — prosecutors concluded that Thao, and the other two former police officers, “chose to do nothing” in the during Floyd’s plight, which eventually led to his death on May 25, 2020.

All three former officers were charged with “depriving Floyd of his right to medical care,” according to the Associated Press. Additionally, Thao and Kueng were charged with “failing to intervene to stop Derek Chauvin,” who was convicted of Floyd’s murder last April.

While Thao did not physically restrain the 46-year old Floyd, he kept bystanders away and ignonred their pleas to allow Floyd to get off the ground. Thao watched as Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck, prosecutors said. Chauvin, who was a more senior officer, was sentenced to 22 years and six months last June.

Floyd's nine-minute ordeal leading to his death was captured by a bystander's video spurring protests around the world calling for justice and police reform .

Sentencing on the civil rights convictions for Kueng, Lane and Thao will take place at a later date.

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