On May 25, 2020, the day he was killed, four former Minneapolis, Minnesota police officers were accused of violating the civil rights of George Floyd, a black man, when he was interviewed. Pressed down on the city streets, but they pleaded not guilty.
Former policemen-Derek Chauwan, Tao Tao, Alexander Quinn, and Thomas Lane-were arraigned by a U.S. district judge in Minneapolis via video conference. Chauvan, who was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison for the murder of Freud, appeared in a room in the highest security prison in Minnesota.
The civil rights allegations stemmed from Freud’s death, after the police detained him for suspecting that he was trying to pass a 20-dollar counterfeit bill at a nearby convenience store.
Bystanders filmed the video of Qiaowen restraining Freud on the phone. Freud gasped and said that he could not breathe. Three other police officers assisted in arresting or preventing bystanders from intervening to help Freud.
Earlier this year, Xiao Wan was convicted of manslaughter and murder, while three other former police officers will face trial in March next year on charges of aiding and abetting.
US District Judge Tony Leung is deciding some legal issues in civil rights cases, including Thao, Kueng, and Lane’s request to separate their trial from Chauvin’s trial, but the prosecutor opposes this motion.
Freud’s death caused repercussions in the United States and around the world, with street protesters calling for police reforms and an end to police abuse of minorities in the coming weeks.
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