Chauvin, 3 Other Ex-Minneapolis Cops To Be Arraigned Tuesday

MINNEAPOLIS — Former Minneapolis police officers Derek Chauvin, Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao will be arraigned in federal court Tuesday on federal civil rights charges in the May 2020 death of George Floyd.

The three-count indictment in the death of Floyd claims that the four men — acting in their capacity as police officers — "willfully deprived Mr. Floyd of his constitutional rights." Their actions resulted in Floyd's death, the indictment states.

All four former officers are expected to plead not guilty, the New York Post reports. The hearing will start at 10 a.m., KARE 11 reports.

Count one

Count one specifically notes that Chauvin held his left knee on Floyd's neck — and his right knee on Floyd's back and arm — while Floyd was handcuffed and not resisting. Chauvin kept his knees on Floyd's body even after he became unresponsive, the count states.

The indictment claims that Chauvin's actions violated Floyd's constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a police officer.

Count two

Count two of the indictment claims Thao and Kueng "willfully failed to intervene to stop Chauvin's use of unreasonable force."

Count three

Count three of the indictment claims that all four ex-officers watched Floyd lying on the ground "in clear need of medical care and willfully failed to aid him."

All four former offices "willfully deprived Mr. Floyd of his constitutional right not to be deprived of liberty without due process of law, which includes an arrestee's right to be free from a police officer's deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs," the indictment states.

The separate federal case against Chauvin

Chauvin was also indicted in a separate Sept. 4, 2017 incident. He is accused of holding a 14-year-old by the throat and hitting the teenager multiple times in the head with a flashlight without legal justification.

In 2017, Chauvin, without legal justification, hit the teen with a flashlight multiple times and held him by the throat, the first of two counts claims.

The second count says Chauvin — again without justification — held his knee on the boy's neck and the upper back of the teenager even after the teenager was lying prone, handcuffed, and unresisting.

Chauvin's actions resulted in "bodily injury," according to the indictment. If the federal prosecutors prove that Chauvin caused injury and he is convicted, the former office would face up to ten years in prison for this case.

Read more: 2nd DOJ Indictment Accuses Chauvin In 2017 Arrest of 14-Year-Old

Chauvin's previous conviction

Regardless of the outcome of the federal cases, Chauvin must serve 22 years and six months in prison after he was convicted in state court of second and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd's death back in April.