Accountability
Officers Thou and Keung reject plea deals in George Floyd killing
Two former Minneapolis police officers who were involved in the incident that killed George Floyd in the Summer of 2020 have rejected plea offers on charges against them related to the murder.
Thou and Keung were both present when their former colleague, Derek Chauvin, held Floyd to the ground by placing his knee on Floyd’s neck for about nine minutes, leading to his death. Chauvin was convicted of murder last year and sentenced to 22 years in prison. Thou and Keung were both charged with two counts of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
Both former officers were offered plea deals by state prosecutors to serve three years in prison for pleading guilty to the lesser charge of aiding and abetting manslaughter, but both declined the offer. “It would be lying for me to accept any plea offer,” Thou said this week. The state’s sentencing guidelines suggest a twelve and a half year sentence for aiding and abetting murder, and four years for aiding and abetting manslaughter.
“It’s a standard best practice to make a record in court when the State offers a plea agreement, in order to ensure the defendant’s decision is freely and knowingly made,” said Attorney General Keith Ellison in a statement. “The defendants have a right to decline the offer and proceed to trial. The State is ready for trial.”
Both officers were also previously convicted and sentenced by a federal court on charges of denying George Floyd his civil rights when they failed to intervene as Chauvin fatally pinned Floyd to the ground. Keung was sentenced to three years and Thou was sentenced to three. Both former officers plan to appeal their federal convictions.
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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This is good on their part. Anyone who looked at the real facts know the officers did not do anything wrong. They did not cause George Floyd’s death and nothing they did or did not do would have kept George Floyd alive. The rigged trials revealed this and the officers were convicted due to politics, the political “blame the police” rants, and not factual information.
George Floyd consumed a lethal amount of fentanyl and another drug that actually left a visible burn on his tongue. George Floyd did not want to have the drugs found on him since he was on parole/probation and it would send him back to prison. The prosecutors and the others “witnesses” downplayed and ignored the fact that George Floyd died of self-induced drug overdose since they were afraid of more riots, destruction of the communities, and political rants, and thus politically prosecuted the officers.
Look at how many people are dying now, and over the last 2 years, from fentanyl consumption. And then look at how many people were dying then. Then look at the crime problems that are occurring all over the country that are rooted in the same issue – blame the police and victim for what the criminal does.