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Former officer Thomas Lane pleads guilty to manslaughter for helping restrain George Floyd

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Former Minneapolis Police Officer Thomas Lane has pleaded guilty Wednesday to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in the 2020 death of George Floyd. 

As part of a plea deal, Lane had a count of aiding and abetting second-degree unintentional murder, which is the reckless, or unintentional killing of a person without lawful justification, dismissed. The state is recommending a sentence of three years for Lane and has agreed to allow him to serve the time in a federal prison. 

Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office prosecuted the case, issued a statement saying he was pleased that Lane accepted responsibility for his role in George Floyd’s death.

“His acknowledgment he did something wrong is an important step toward healing the wounds of the Floyd family, our community, and the nation,” Ellison said. “While accountability is not justice, this is a significant moment in this case and a necessary resolution on our continued journey to justice.”

Lane’s attorney, Earl Gray, said he and Lane would not be commenting further. Lane was not taken into custody and a pre-sentence investigation was ordered. He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 21 on the state charge.

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Trials for Kueng and Thao begin June 13, according to Ellison’s office. Both officers were also charged with second-degree unintentional murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd.

Their former colleague, Derek Chauvin, pleaded guilty last year to a federal charge of violating Floyd’s civil rights and faces a federal sentence ranging from 20 to 25 years.

Chauvin was earlier convicted of state charges of murder and manslaughter and sentenced to 22-and-a-half years in the state case.

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Terry A. Hurlbut has been a student of politics, philosophy, and science for more than 35 years. He is a graduate of Yale College and has served as a physician-level laboratory administrator in a 250-bed community hospital. He also is a serious student of the Bible, is conversant in its two primary original languages, and has followed the creation-science movement closely since 1993.

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Donald R. Laster, Jr

These officers are being railroaded. Learn the real facts. George Floyd committed an unintentional suicide by consuming the illegal drugs he had one him since the police had the authority to search him since he was on parole/probation for felonies he had committed. If George Floyd had been “White” or even “Asian” the people who performed the autopsy would have reported it as a suicide and not down played the lethal amount of drugs in his body.

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