Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Three former Minneapolis police officers went before a federal judge during the last week to be sentenced for violating George Floyd’s civil rights, and for each man, U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson handed out penalties well below what prosecutors sought and below federal guidelines.

Tou Thao, who held back concerned bystanders as Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck, got 3 1/2 years. J. Alexander Kueng, who pinned Floyd’s back, got three. And Thomas Lane, who held Floyd’s feet and asked twice about rolling the Black man on his side, got 2 1/2.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The last two former Minneapolis police officers to be sentenced in federal court for violating George Floyd’s civil rights are scheduled to learn their penalties Wednesday, which could set in motion another round of plea deal discussions in state court over a killing that sparked a reckoning on racial injustice.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Former Minneapolis police Officer Thomas Lane was sentenced Thursday to 2 1/2 years in prison on a federal civil rights charge for his role in the killing of George Floyd.

U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson sentenced Lane for his February conviction of depriving Floyd of medical care as he lay dying under Officer Derek Chauvin’s knee in May 2020.

“Mr. Lane this is a very serious offense, in which a life was lost,” Magnuson said. “The fact that you did not get up and remove Mr. Chauvin when Mr. Floyd became unconscious is a violation of the law.”

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Derek Chauvin will learn his sentence Thursday for violating George Floyd’s civil rights, with a deal in place that would extend the former Minneapolis police officer’s time behind bars while shifting him to possibly more favorable conditions in a federal prison.

Chauvin agreed to a sentence of 20 to 25 years in his December plea to a federal charge in Floyd’s killing. U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson will make the final decision, with prosecutors seeking the full 25 on the grounds that Chauvin’s actions were cold-blooded and needless.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The former Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot an unarmed woman who called 911 to report a possible sexual assault in the alley behind her home is scheduled to be released from prison next week, months after his murder conviction was overturned and he was resentenced on a lesser charge.

Mohamed Noor, 36, is scheduled to be released from custody Monday, 18 days shy of the fifth anniversary of the July 15, 2017, fatal shooting of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a 40-year-old dual U.S.-Australian citizen and yoga teacher who was engaged to be married.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A former Minneapolis police officer pleaded guilty Wednesday to a state charge of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in the killing of George Floyd.

As part of the plea deal, Thomas Lane will have a count of aiding and abetting second-degree unintentional murder dismissed. Lane, along with J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao, has already been convicted on federal counts of willfully violating Floyd’s rights during the May 2020 restraint that led to the Black man’s death.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was expected to call for compromise in negotiations to replenish the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund and to pay frontline worker bonuses during his State of the State address on Sunday.

Legislative leaders are deadlocked on the unemployment insurance issue, causing an automatic tax increase on employers statewide after lawmakers missed a March 15 deadline.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota prosecutors declined to file charges Wednesday against a Minneapolis police SWAT team officer who fatally shot Amir Locke while executing an early morning no-knock search warrant in a downtown apartment in February.

Locke, 22, who was Black, was staying on a couch in the apartment when authorities entered it on Feb. 2 without knocking as part of an investigation into a homicide in neighboring St. Paul.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Closing arguments were expected Tuesday in the federal trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights, with jurors to get the case after a month of testimony.

Thomas Lane was the final officer to present his defense, testifying Monday he didn’t realize how dire Floyd’s condition was while handcuffed, facedown on the street with Officer Derek Chauvin’s knee pressed to his neck — until paramedics turned Floyd over.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights heads into what may be its final week Monday, with the third officer yet to take his turn on the stand.

Thomas Lane is expected to testify as his attorney presents his case, the last to do so in the nearly month-long proceeding before the federal trial moves to closing arguments and then to the jury.