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US Jury Indicts 4 Ex-Officers for Violating George Floyd's Civil Rights

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – A US federal grand jury has charged all four of the former police officers involved in George Floyd's death with civil rights violations including violating his constitutional rights, the Justice Department said on Friday.
Sputnik

"A federal grand jury in Minneapolis, Minnesota, returned two indictments that were unsealed today. The first indictment charges former Minneapolis Police Department officers Derek Chauvin, 45; Tou Thao, 35; J. Alexander Kueng, 27; and Thomas Lane, 38, with federal civil rights crimes for their roles in the death of George Perry Floyd Jr.," the Department said in a release.

Chauvin has been charged with violating Floyd's right to be free from unreasonable seizure and unreasonable force by a policeman. Thao and Kueng are also charged with violating Floyd's right to be free from unreasonable seizure because they did not interfere to stop Chauvin from kneeling on Floyd's neck. All four ex-officers were charged for not providing Floyd with medical care.

On 20 April, Chauvin was found guilty by a 12-member jury of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter for killing George Floyd in May last year, by putting his knee on Floyd's neck for nine minutes and restricting his breathing. Chauvin is expected to be sentenced on 16 June, he may face up to 75 years in prison.

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