3 more Minneapolis officers charged in George Floyd death, Derek Chauvin charges elevated

The three former officers are charged with aiding and abetting murder. Chauvin, who placed his knee on Floyd’s neck for over eight minutes, now faces a second-degree murder charge.

Three more former Minneapolis police officers were charged on Wednesday in the deadly arrest of George Floyd, five days after charges were brought against a fourth officer who was seen in a video kneeling on Floyd’s neck.

Former officers Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng are facing charges of aiding and abetting murder, according to criminal complaints filed by the state of Minnesota on Wednesday. The murder charge against another former officer, Derek Chauvin, was also elevated to second-degree murder.

Chauvin, the officer who place knee on Floyd’s neck for about eight minutes while detaining him on May 25, was initially charged Friday with third-degree murder and manslaughter by the Hennepin County prosecutor.

All four officers were terminated from their positions with the department on May 26, after a video showing the detainment went viral.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who has been appointed to lead the prosecution in the case, said in an MSNBC interview Mondaythat he intended to charge the officers with the ”highest degree of accountability that the law and the facts will support.”

The Minnesota Fraternal Order of Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the elevated murder charge against Chauvin or new charges filed against the other three officers Wednesday. It was not immediately clear if the officers had representation.

Multiple videos have been released on Floyd’s arrest, with one showing him pinned down by three different officers near a patrol car while a fourth stands near his head. Floyd can be heard pleading, “I can’t breathe.”

“Please, please, please, I can’t breathe,” Floyd begged in one video caught by a bystander. “My stomach hurts. My neck hurts. Please, please. I can’t breathe.”

He died while in custody that day.

Lane and Kueng were the first officers to arrive at scene that night, as they investigated a possible fake $20 bill being passed at the Cup Foods grocery store, according to the criminal complaint against Chauvin. When Lane found Floyd parked nearby, the officer pulled his gun, had the man get out of his car and then handcuffed him, the complaint against Chauvin said.

The handcuffed Floyd was eventually put face-down on the pavement with Kueng holding down his back and Lane pressing down his legs, the charging document against Chauvin said. While a distressed Floyd said “I can’t breathe,” “Mama” and “please” several times, Lane asked “should we roll him on his side?” according to prosecutors.

“No, staying put where we got him,” Chauvin responded, according to the complaint against him. “I am worried about excited delirium or whatever,” Lane allegedly said. “That’s why we have him on his stomach,” Chauvin responded, according to the criminal complaint against him.

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