Former Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao has been sentenced to four years and nine months years in prison for his role in George Floyd’s killing.
Thao was found guilty in May of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in connection to Floyd’s death in 2020.
The sentence will run concurrently with Thao’s 3.5 year prison term on a separate federal civil rights conviction.
Thao held back bystanders while fellow former officer Derek Chauvin pinned down and pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes on 25 May 2020.
Bodycam footage showed Thao prevent witnesses from coming to Floyd’s aid, as he lay dying on the ground crying out for help.
“This is why you don’t do drugs, kids,” Thao was heard telling bystanders.
He also can be heard telling another emergency responder to “back off” when she asks to check Floyd’s pulse.
On 2 May, Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill in Minnesota convicted Thao on charges of second-degree aiding and abetting manslaughter.
Judge Cahill determined that Thao “made a conscious decision to actively participate in Floyd’s death,” and “actively encouraged” Chauvin’s restraint despite knowing that it could endanger Floyd’s life.
“The short of it: Tou Thao did not want to follow the proper protocol and the work it would entail,” Cahill wrote. “George Floyd died as a result.”
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