More than two years have passed since George Floyd's violent death. Now another ex-cop who was present at the murder of the African American on May 25, 2020 has to go to prison.
The 39-year-old Thomas Lane was sentenced to two and a half years in prison on Thursday in a federal court in St. Paul, Minnesota, as reported by the "New York Times" and the broadcaster CNN, among others. Lane was found guilty of violating Floyd's civil rights in February, and the competent federal court has now determined the sentence. Floyd's family reacted disappointed.
Lane's former colleague Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22 years and six months in prison and then again to more than 20 years in prison for Floyd's death in two trials. The white police officer, who is now serving his sentence, pressed his knee on the handcuffed 46-year-old Floyd's neck for around nine and a half minutes, suffocating him. Three other police officers involved in the arrest have also been charged. In addition to Lane, it is Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng.
All three were found guilty of failure to provide assistance. Lane is now the first of them to be sentenced. The judges largely followed the demands of the defendant's lawyer. These had claimed that Lane - like Chauvin, a white man - had suggested Floyd be rolled onto his side and that he had tried to revive him.
Thao and Kueng were also found guilty, unlike Lane, of failing to prevent the use of "unreasonable force" by key perpetrator Chauvin. They are still waiting for their sentence to be announced.
George Floyd's brother Philonise was disappointed on Thursday with the verdict against Lane, which he believes is too lenient. "This is terrible," he told reporters. "The whole penal system needs to be reformed." Prosecutors had asked for more than five years in prison.
Lane previously pleaded guilty to assisting manslaughter in a separate indictment in a Minnesota state court in May. He is therefore threatened with a three-year prison sentence, which will probably be offset against the judgment of the Federal Supreme Court.
A video of Floyd's violent death had sparked international outrage. The man complained several times that he could no longer breathe. According to the autopsy, Floyd lost consciousness – and died. In the United States, his death led to nationwide protests against racism and police violence.
See a photo series from spring 2021 from our archive: In May 2020, the African American George Floyd was killed by a white police officer. Since then, people around the world have gathered behind the three words "Black Lives Matter" to protest against racism and police violence. The movement in pictures.
