Prosecutor: 3 cops in Floyd killing 'chose to do nothing'

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Three Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights sat by and “chose to do nothing” as Floyd pleaded for air and then went silent, a federal prosecutor said Tuesday at the start of closing arguments in their trial.

Prosecutor Manda Sertich singled out each former officer — Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane — as the government wrapped up its case in the monthlong trial. Kueng knelt on Floyd’s back, Thomas Lane held his legs and Tou Thao kept bystanders back.

Thao stared directly at Officer Derek Chauvin as Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for 9 1/2 minutes, Sertich said, noting that Thao also ignored bystanders’ pleas to help a man who was dying “right before their eyes." She said Kueng casually picked gravel from a police SUV’s tire as Chauvin “mocked George Floyd’s pleas by saying it took a heck of a lot of oxygen to keep talking.” And Lane’s remarks showed that he knew Floyd was in distress but “did nothing to give Mr. Floyd the medical aid he knew Mr. Floyd so desperately needed,” the prosecutor said.

All three are charged with depriving Floyd of his right to medical care as Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes. Lane held the 46-year-old Black man’s feet, Kueng knelt on his back and Thao held back bystanders.

Kueng and Thao are also charged with failing to intervene to stop Chauvin during the May 25, 2020, killing that triggered protests worldwide and a reexamination of racism and policing.

Prosecutors have argued that the officers violated their training by not rolling Floyd onto his side or giving him CPR, and by not intervening to stop Chauvin.

Sertich discounted Lane’s attempt to perform CPR after the ambulance arrived, saying the officers chose to do nothing for 2 1/2...