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.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.

Sunday Read: Pulitzer Prize author ponders Tou Thao and the place Asian Americans hold in the U.S.

I'm taking a break from usual weekly attempt at relevance by linking the reader to another site. Sorry, about that.

Many of us here on social media rarely take the time to read OG "content creators" such as Time magazine and local newspapers. I found the Time magazine essay -- Asian Americans Are Still Caught in the Trap of the ‘Model Minority’ Stereotype. And It Creates Inequality for All -- so thoughtful that I want to share it with you.

Viet Thanh Nguyen, who won the 2016 Pulitzer for Fiction for his novel "The Sympathizer," is just a damn good writer. In the July 6 edition of Time, a couple of days after Independence Day, he writes:

"The face of Tou Thao haunts me. The Hmong-American police officer stood with his back turned to Derek Chauvin, his partner, as Chauvin knelt on George Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds and murdered him.

"In the video that I saw, Tou Thao is in the foreground and Chauvin is partly visible in the background, George Floyd’s head pressed to the ground. Bystanders beg Tou Thao to do something, because George Floyd was not moving, and as he himself said, he could not breathe.

"The face of Tou Thao is like mine and not like mine, although the face of George Floyd is like mine and not like mine too. Racism makes us focus on the differences in our faces rather than our similarities, and in the alchemical experiment of the U.S., racial difference mixes with labor exploitation to produce an explosive mix of profit and atrocity. In response to endemic American racism, those of us who have been racially stigmatized cohere around our racial difference. We take what white people hate about us, and we convert stigmata into pride, community and power. So it is that Tou Thao and I are “Asian Americans,” because we are both “Asian,” which is better than being an “Oriental” or a “gook.” If being an Oriental gets us mocked and being a gook can get us killed, being an Asian American might save us. Our strength in numbers, in solidarity across our many differences of language, ethnicity, culture, religion, national ancestry and more, is the basis of being Asian American.

He continues, writing about his immigrant parents and their struggles to attain what they believed was the American dream in San Jose, which before the rise of Silicon Valley, was like many urban downtowns, was a downtrodden ghost town devoid of live and entrepreneurial activity. 

Nguyen was able to bring together all the political, social and economic viruses creating havoc through our country 

"If we are dissatisfied with our country’s failures and limitations, revealed to us in stark clarity during the time of coronavirus, then now is our time to change our country for the better. If you think America is in trouble, blame shareholders, not immigrants; look at CEOs, not foreigners; resent corporations, not minorities; yell at politicians of both parties, not the weak, who have little in the way of power or wealth to share."

He goes on to write about our Asian American identity, the model minority and where we fit in the melange of a multi-hued America.

It's a damn good read and one that we can spend a many hours pondering. If you want to read the entire essay, click here.

Excellent writer that he is, Nguyen doesn't give a nice answer neatly wrapped with a bow to the questions he raises. That answer lies within each of us.

Who is Tou Thao, the Hmong American charged in George Floyd's death?

SCREEN CAPTURE

Fomer Minnesota police officer Tou Thao was arrested in the death of George Floyd.

Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao, the Hmong American, who was involved in the arrest and death of George Floyd, a black man. dream about being a cop may be shattered.

Thao, 34, was one of four officers who arrested and restrained Floyd, eventually leading to Floyd's death. Besides Thao, the other officers were  Derek Michael Chauvin, Thomas Kiernan Lane and J. Alexander Kueng.

The senior officer at the scene of the arrest, Chauvin, had his knee on Floyd's neck for almost 9 minutes, apparently cutting off blood and oxygen to his brain, according to one of two autopsies.

The following day, all four officers were fired from the department.

Floyd's death has led to widespread outrage, protests and unrest across the nation. The Minneapolis officer seen kneeling on Floyd's neck, Derek Chauvin, was charged last week with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Wednesday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced that the charge against Chuvin was upgraded to 2nd-degree murder. The other three officers, includingThao, was charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.

Thao, along with Kueng and Lane, was taken into custody Wednesday and is being held on $1 million bail, according to county jail documents.

Although Thao didn't touch Floyd, he stood between onlookers and the other three officers who were restraining Floyd. 

Tuo Thao is a common name among the Hmong and has led to problems with other individuals with that name, including a supposed connection with Kellie Chauvin, the officer's Hmong wife. Thao is not related to Kellie Chauvin, who is reportedly in the midst of divorcing Chauvin.

After Thao graduated in 2004 from Fridley High School in Fridley, Minnesota, he attended North Hennepin Community College in nearby Brooklyn Park, Minn. with the intention to earn an associate degree in law enforcement. However, he never graduated.

While attending college, he worked as a part-time police officer.

In 2008, the Minneapolis Police Dept. hired him a community service officer. He went through the Minneapolis Police Academy but was laid off because of budget cuts.

He was recalled in 2011 and hired in 2012 as a full-time officer.

At least six complaints were filed against him during his career with the Minneapolis police before the Floyd incident but didn't receive any disciplinary action, according to Communities United Against Police Brutality.

The most serious complaint against Thao occurred in Oct., 2014, when he and another police officer arrested Lamar Ferguson. Thao allegedly physically assaulted the arrestee and took him to the hospital before putting him to jail.

In 2017, both officers were sued by Ferguson for excessive use of force and the case was closed in 2018 with the Minneapolis Police Department settling with Ferguson for $25,000.

Defending him in the Floyd case, is Attorney Robert Paule, reportedly one of the top-rated criminal defense lawyers  in Minneapolis with more than three decades of experience in general practice.

Thao listed that he can speak Hmong. Minnesota has a large Hmong population, mostly concentrated in the Twin Cities area. The Hmong community in Minnesota is one of two large concentrations of Hmong in the U.S., the other being around the Fresno area in California. According to 2010 census data, some 64,000 Hmong live in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Hmong came to the US as refugees after the Vietnam War because they were part of the CIA's "secret army" in Laos, Vietnam and China who were enlisted to fight the Vietnamese from North and South Vietnam seeking to overthrow the South Vietnamese government.

Thao's involvement in Floyd's death has caused Asian Americans across the country and the black community to re-examine biases and tensions between the communities.

For the Twin Cities' Hmong community, the debate over anti-blackness is mostly being talked about behind closed doors. But much of the rest of Asian America seems to be experiencing a more public reckoning, with social media discussions over not just anti-blackness sentiment but also about solidarity with communities of color.

The perceived tension goes back to the 1970s, when the Hmong arrived as refugees and were "plopped into the most affordable parts of town," says Bo Thao-Urabe, a Hmong refugee and head of the Coalition of Asian American Leaders in St. Paul. She has no known relation to former officer Thao.

"So we live in proximity to black and brown people," she says because the Hmong were seen as rivals by the blacks as the two groups battled over the same crumbs.

People who tend to defend Thao believe that the former officer shouldn't be judged as a "white" cop with assumed privilege.

Hmong Americans rank lowest among Southeast Asian American ethnic groups "across multiple measures of income," with 60% of them low income and more than 1 of 4 living in poverty, according to a recent study from the group Asian Americans Advancing Justice.

"People have this preconceived notion that if you are Asian American, you must be educated. You must make a lot of money — and that is not the experience of this community," says Thao-Urabe.

Minnesota AG: All four arresting officers face increased charges for death of George Floyd

INSTAGRAM / Samjohnson3photography

ASAM NEWS

Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis officer shown pressing his knee into George Floyd’s neck, is now being charged with second-degree murder. Former officers Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao, are being charged with aiding and abetting, CNN reports.

Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison announced the charges at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. Kueng, Lane and Thao face charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.

Kueng, 26, was taken into custody on Wednesday, according to county jail records. Warrants were issued for Lane, 37, and Thao, 34. In the video Kueng and Lane can be seen restraining Floyd. Thao is later seen standing by as Chauvin presses his knee into Floyd’s neck.

Chauvin, 44, was initially charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. He now faces second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges. According to The New York Times, the second-degree murder charges require prosecutors to prove either that Mr. Chauvin intended to kill Mr. Floyd, or that he did so while committing another felony. Second-degree murder is punishable by up to 40 years in prison.

Lane, Kueng and Thao now face up to 40 years in prison if found guilty of aiding and abetting second-degree murder. They face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.

SCREENCAPTURE / MSNBC

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced new charges in the death of George Floyd.

The presence of Thao, a Hmong American, during the arrest and death of Floyd, has raised a national debate among Asian Americans and their relationship with the Black community. 

Much of the discussion on social debate called for Asian Americans to support the call for equal justice and police reform.  Floyd’s death came six weeks after police in Louisville, Kentucky, fatally shot Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old black woman, during a midnight “no-knock” raid on her home. It came 10 weeks after the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man, who was chased down by a white father and son in a pickup truck as he jogged in his neighborhood in Glynn County, Georgia.

“This is a bittersweet moment,” Ben Crump, a lawyer for Mr. Floyd’s family, said in a statement. “This is a significant step forward on the road toward justice, and we are gratified that this important action was brought before George Floyd’s body was laid to rest. That is a source of peace for George’s family in this painful time.”

VIEWS FROM THE EDGE contributed to this report.

George Floyd's death solidifying AAPI support for justice and #BlackLivesMatter

The presence of former Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao, a Hmng American, during the arrest and death of George Floyd, a black man, has raised a social media storm of commentary on the social media website.

As his fellow officers were holding Floyd to the ground, with former officer Derek Chauvin's knee on Floyd's neck, Thao stood between the officers and the crowd of onlookers, some of whom were recording Floyd's dying breathes and pleading for the officers to let up from the ground.

The Minnesota event has forced AAPI organizations and individuals to admit to the little discussed anti-Black bias that exists within some elements of the AAPI community.

“George Floyd’s cries of ‘I can’t breathe’ parallel the words of Eric Garner, who was killed by police in 2014. As George Floyd lay struggling to breathe, Officer Tou Thao had the opportunity and the authority to stop the situation. It is unconscionable that he chose to do nothing,” said John C. Yang, Advancing Justice | AAJC’s President and Executive Director.

“We are in a time where doing anything while Black garners unwanted attention and unnecessary law enforcement interaction – and too often death," said Yang. "We are also in a time where being Asian Americans means being harassed, attacked, and blamed for COVID-19. As many Asian Americans are speaking out about this hate, we must also show up for the African American community.”

“Racism and discrimination are experienced by every African American, Latino, Native American, and Asian American in this country. We must act against this violence and assault on our communities. It has always been time for racial solidarity, but we need to come together now more than ever.”

Author Louis Leung wrote a commentary for published in Asian Articulations:

"Let’s get this out of the way: Tou Thao is a despicable human being. M.P.D. Badge #7162 has a history of excessive brutality and a settled out-of-court case for $25,000," wrote Leung. "He’s the Asian cop in the infamous George Floyd murder video and his immoral professional choices should absolutely be condemned. The defend-Asians-no-matter-what crowd is wrong here; put the tribalism aside and sit this one out.

In his essay, novelist Leung brought up the "Anti-blackness," that threads its way through the AAPI community. "Yes, the A word. The Asian community hates hearing it. The Asian community can’t make up it’s mind to define it — is bringing awareness of black violence to innocent Asians “anti-blackness”? Is not letting our daughters date black men “anti-blackness”? Is serving black customers in our restaurants and nail salons while whispering negative presumptions about them “anti-blackness”? The answer is, well, that’s really not up for us to decide. We decide anti-Asianness, not anti-blackness.

"Please believe me when I say the Tou Thao is not a representation of us; he is the worst, the bottom 5%. The blatant killing of so many innocent black men is abhorrent to our society; being black in America should not be a death sentence. It can’t be swept under a rug of whataboutisms. Blaming Asians is a waste of valuable energy. It’s too bad the wrong Asian was in the right place to stop a crime at the right time," Leung concludes.

RELATED: A manifesto for AAPI ...

The Japanese American Citizens League sent a letter to Minneapolis Police Dept. strongly condemning the actions of the four police officers involved in Floyd's death and aligned the civil rights organization with the call for equal justice for Black Americans:

The Asian Minnesotans Against Racism and Xenophobia Collaborative an open letter published in their website.

The number of organizations signing onto this letter continues to grow. Click here for the complete letter and the updated list.

In addition, the controversial topic went viral in the twitterverse. Floyd's death at the hands of the police incensed rapper and filmmaker Ruby Ibarra and moved her to post a series of tweets :

Here's a sampling of the tweets calling for justice for George Floyd and #BlaciLivesMatter:

Asian Americans rail against police for the death of George Floyd

Minneapolis Police Officer Tou Thao stands guard as Officer Derek Chauvin keeps his  knee on George Floyd's neck. 

UPDATED 1:30 p.m., May 28, 2020.

George Floyd's horrible death Monday gasping for air as a policeman's knee pressed down on his neck was captured on video drawing condemnations from Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

"This hits home for us as we close out Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, a time when so many of us reflect on our Asian American identity and how it had emerged from the Black liberation movement," said Alvina Yeh, Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance.

"We’ve said this before and we’ll say it again because the work continues; we all have a role in responding to atrocious acts of violence," she said. "As Asian American and Pacific Islander working people, we commit to leveraging our power to dismantle oppressive systems, addressing anti-blackness in the AAPI community, and loving and fighting for our black siblings.”

Floyd, a 46-year old Black man, died after being violently arrested and pinned to the ground in Minneapolis, Minnesota as onlookers pleaded to the police to let him breathe. Floyd, a bouncer at a nightclub, was heard saying, "I can't breathe."

Police responded to a call that a man was trying to pass a forged check. Four officers arrived. Although the police report claimed that Floyd was resisting arrest, a security camera taping the scene didn't show any resistance by Floyd before he was thrown to the ground and his neck pinned to the ground.  Officer Derek Chauvin continued to kneel into his neck, even after Floyd stopped struggling and fell unconscious.

As this was going on Officer Tou Thao stood between his fellow officer and a gathering crowd.

The Minneapolis AAPI community was quick to express their support for Black Lives Matter and to condemn Floyd's death.

"Today and every day we support #BlackLivesMatter and stand with George Floyd's family and community to demand justice," said the Coalition of Asian American Leaders in a statement.

African American adults are nearly six times as likely to be imprisoned or jailed than white adults, according to the Sentencing Project watchdog group.

Minnesota law enforcement authorities have come under heavy criticism in recent years. Protests erupted in the state in 2016, after 32-year-old Philando Castile, who was black, was shot and killed by a St Anthony police officer during a traffic stop. Footage of the incident also went viral online.

The CAAL statement went on to say: "We also know our work to dismantle harmful systems and build just alternatives must include addressing anti-Blackness within our own communities. We must show up in solidarity for Black lives not only when lives are lost. but in everyday recognition that our liberation is tied together."

The remarkable admission of the Asian American leaders touches on a little-talked about topic in the AAPI community -- a bias against African Americans among many AAPI. 

South Asian Americans Leading Together made a similar statement confronting the anti-Black sentiment within the AAPI communities. “As South Asians and Asian Americans, we must acknowledge, confront, and dismantle anti-Blackness in our own communities,” said SAALT’s Executive Director, Lakshmi Sridaran.

SAALT went a step further and created a toolkit with steps people can take to express their outrage at the poliice behavior during the arrest and death of FLoyd.

Rep. Judy Chu, D-CA, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, California Sen. Kamala Harris spoke out against the incident, just the latest example of injustice towards members of the African American community.

“We send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of George Floyd. Deaths like Mr. Floyd’s, which remind us of the police killings of Eric Garner and other Black individuals, point to the systemic racism behind individual and structural hate crimes,” said Rita Pin Ahrens, national executive director of the OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates.

“The fact that Hmong American Officer Tou Thao stood to defend his colleague, and antagonized the bystanders who called for compassion, is not lost upon us. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders must stand up for Black communities by calling out institutional racism and the anti-Blackness within our own communities,” the OCA statement continued.

“We are equally enraged and ashamed to learn that an Asian American police officer, Tou Thao, just stood watch as his co-worker treated George Floyd inhumanely.," stated APALA's Yeh.

"As refugees and descendants of refugees, as survivors of war and genocide, our communities also know the devastating impacts of police force.," said a statement from South East Asian Resource Action Center.

"It is incumbant on us as Southeast Asian Americans to show up for the Black community. We must acknowledge that our own paths to equity are a direct product of their historic civil rights wins and struggles, that they continue to build, as well as to endure, to this day. We must name the systems that have benefitted from having communities of color pitted against one another, and we must boldly resist them."

The four officers detaining Floyd were subsequently placed on administrative leave but before the day ended, they were fired after an outcry from politicians and community members.

“They need be charged with murder because what they did was murder” said Rodney Floyd, George Floyd’s brother in an interview.  The FBI is reportedly investigating the incident.

“At my request, the FBI and the Department of Justice are already well into an investigation as to the very sad and tragic death in Minnesota of George Floyd,” Donald Trump tweeted late Wednesday.

“I have asked for this investigation to be expedited and greatly appreciate all of the work done by local law enforcement," Trump added. "My heart goes out to George’s family and friends. Justice will be served!”

Both Chauvin and Thao have several complaints against them for use of unreasonable force in their history, according to police records.

A peaceful protest against Floyd's death later Tuesday was broken up by police using tear gas.

Protests on Wednesday grew more violent as looting was reported and several buildings were set on fire. One person, who was shot by a pawnshop owner, died at a hospital. 

“I’ve wrestled with, more than anything else over the last 36 hours, one fundamental question: Why is the man who killed George Floyd not in jail?” said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. Wednesday, Frey called for his District Attorney to file charges against the former police officer Chauvin.

He later added: “I saw no threat. I saw nothing that would signal that this kind of force was necessary.”