A federal grand jury has indicted Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, J Keung and Tou Thao for violating Floyd’s civil rights when he had been arrested by the ex-police officers.
Floyd had suffered from an unreasonable seizure alongside the use of excessive force against his neck, which are few factors that led to his death.
If they are convicted, they could either face death or life in prison. The charges on the officers are “encouraged,” says family attorney Ben Crump.
Derek Chauvin also has a second indictment under his belt, being involved with an incident that occurred in 2017 with the same situation: he had knelt on a black 14-year-old boy’s neck for more than double the time than he did with George Floyd. It was about 17 minutes and news of it only spread recently.
The second charge that Chauvin faces is holding his knee on the neck and upper back of the younger boy, causing injuries to his body but not as deadly as Floyd’s. He faces up to 10 years in prison.
The four cops will now be sent to a criminal trial in federal court to access the situation at hand. They will also be prosecuted by DOJ officials located in Minnesota.
National Action Network, a civil rights group, has delivered the news of the charges, stating that they have “tried to get the federal government to make it clear that these crimes are not only state crimes but violate civil rights on a federal level when police engage in this kind of behavior.”
Ben Crump, the family attorney, has also added that the “Constitution claims to be committed to life, liberty, and justice, and we are seeing this realized in the justice George Floyd continues to receive.
This comes after hundreds of years of American history in which Black Americans unfortunately did not receive equal justice.”
The family attorney comments that he encourages these charges, they are also eager to see the justice that will be served in the name of George Floyd.
The federal civil rights charges are separate from the state charges against Chauvin’s trial and murder conviction that happened last month. He was convicted of second and third-degree murder of George Floyd, alongside second-degree manslaughter.
The three officers that are left will be facing a trial on August 23, facing state charges for aiding the second-degree murder of Floyd. They even failed to give him the proper medical assistance when arresting the victim.