On Wednesday June 03, 2020, Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office upgraded charges against the former Minneapolis police officer – Derek Chauvin, who knelt on George Floyd’s neck and charged the other three officers at the scene with aiding and abetting murder.
The decision came just two days after Ellison took over the prosecution from Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman and followed more than a week of sometimes-violent protests calling for tougher charges against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who had pinned Floyd to the ground and held him there for over eight minutes. Protesters also demanded the arrests of the three other former officers who were present but failed to intervene. All three were booked into the Hennepin County jail on Wednesday.
To the Floyd family, to our beloved community, and everyone that is watching, I say: George Floyd mattered. He was loved. His life was important. His life had value. We will seek justice for him and for you and we will find it,” the Attorney said.
However, he said, he doesn’t believe that “one successful prosecution can rectify the hurt and loss that so many people feel. The solution to that pain will be in the slow and difficult work of constructing justice and fairness in our society.”
Chauvin, who was recorded on video kneeling on Floyd’s who begged for air on Memorial Day, now faces the more serious charge of second-degree murder, in addition to the original charges of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter with culpable negligence. Chauvin had already been charged by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office last week.
The amended complaint filed against Chauvin stated,
Police are trained that this type of restraint with a subject in a prone position is inherently dangerous. … Officer Chauvin’s restraint of Mr. Floyd in this manner for a prolonged period was a substantial factor in Mr. Floyd losing consciousness, constituting substantial bodily harm, and Mr. Floyd’s death as well.”
Other officers at the scene; Tou Thao, J Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, were each charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder while committing a felony with aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter with culpable negligence. Both charges are categorized as “unintentional” felonies.
Thao was recorded watching as Chauvin continued to press on Floyd’s neck with his knee. Kueng was one of the first officers at the scene and helped pin Floyd down. Lane was detailed in earlier charges as pointing a gun at Floyd before handcuffing, and he later asked whether officers should roll Floyd on his side as he was restrained.
The charges came just days after Governor Tim Walz asked Ellison to take over the prosecution, which until Sunday had been led by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. Freeman stood next to Ellison as the attorney general announced the charges Wednesday, but he did not speak and left midway through the news conference.
Despite the quick pace of adding charges to the investigation, Ellison sought to manage expectations, cautioning that the cases could take “months” to see through. He also brushed off the idea that intense public pressure influenced the process.
The charges noted that Floyd was “calm” after he was first arrested and before Chauvin knelt on his neck. The complaint also noted three times that after Floyd was pinned to the pavement by three officers, none of them moved from their positions despite pleas from Floyd. Video of the incident showed that bystanders also pleaded with police.
Floyd had told the first two officers at the scene — Lane and Kueng — that he was not resisting arrest but did not want to get into the back of their squad car because he is claustrophobic, the charges said.
Walz issued a statement after Ellison announced the new charges. “I laid flowers at George Floyd’s memorial this morning. As a former high school history teacher, I looked up at the mural of George’s face painted above and I reflected on what his death will mean for future generations. What will our young people learn about this moment? Will his death be just another blip in a textbook? Or will it go down in history as when our country turned toward justice and change?
“It’s on each of us to determine that answer,” Walz said. “The charges announced by Attorney General Keith Ellison today are a meaningful step toward justice for George Floyd. But we must also recognize that the anguish driving protests around the world is about more than one tragic incident.
“George Floyd’s death is the symptom of a disease. We will not wake up one day and have the disease of systemic racism cured for us. This is on each of us to solve together, and we have hard work ahead,” he said. “We owe that much to George Floyd, and we owe that much to each other.”
One of the attorneys representing Floyd’s family, Benjamin Crump, released a statement Wednesday praising the arrest and charging of the other three officers and the upgrading of murder charges against Chauvin. Crump’s statement came after the Star Tribune first reported the charges and before Ellison’s office made any official announcements.
“This is a bittersweet moment for the family of George Floyd,” said the joint statement by Floyd’s family, Crump and the legal team. “We are deeply gratified that Attorney General Keith Ellison took decisive action in this case, arresting and charging all the officers involved in George Floyd’s death and upgrading the charge against Derek Chauvin to felony second-degree murder.”
