Thomas Lane, one of the former Minneapolis police officers involved in the killing of George Floyd, was released from federal prison, as confirmed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Lane, 41, was convicted in 2022 of violating Floyd's civil rights during the fatal incident on May 25, 2020. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was restrained for over nine minutes despite repeatedly telling the officers, "I can't breathe."
At the time of the arrest, Lane was a rookie officer on his fourth day on the job. He held down Floyd's legs while Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd's neck and back. J. Alexander Kueng restrained Floyd's torso, and Tou Thao kept bystanders at a distance. Lane was sentenced to two and a half years in federal prison in July 2022. He was also sentenced to three years in prison later that year for aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, a state charge to which he pleaded guilty.
Initially, Lane faced a more severe charge of aiding and abetting second-degree unintentional murder, but this was dismissed as part of a plea deal. His sentences were served concurrently at Englewood prison in Colorado, a low-security federal facility. Upon his release, Lane will be under a two-year term of supervision.
The other officers involved in Floyd's death also faced legal consequences. Chauvin was convicted in April 2021 of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter, receiving a 22 and a half-year sentence. He later pleaded guilty to federal civil rights charges, adding a 21-year sentence to run concurrently. Kueng and Thao were both found guilty of federal civil rights violations and received three and three-and-a-half-year sentences, respectively. Additionally, they both pleaded guilty to state charges related to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, with Thao receiving nearly five years in prison.
Chauvin, who was stabbed in a federal prison in Arizona last November, has since been transferred to a low-security prison in Texas.
Link: CNN
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