Trial of 3 cops in Floyd killing delayed by COVID diagnosis
Tou Thao, Thomas Lane, and J. Alexander Kueng are charged with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and manslaughter.[Hennepin County Sheriff's Office]
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The federal trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s rights was abruptly suspended after one of the defendants tested positive for COVID-19.
The judge says the court is in recess until Monday. The officer who tested positive wasn’t named, but reporters in the courtroom said J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao were there and Thomas Lane was not. Lane’s attorney declined to say whether his client had COVID-19.
Federal prosecutors say the three officers deprived Floyd of his rights when they failed to give him medical aid as Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on the Black man’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes while Floyd was handcuffed, facedown and gasping for air.
Kueng and Thao are also accused of failing to intervene.