Three more former Minnesota police officers will be charged in the killing of George Floyd, a

46-year-old Black man who died after an officer kneeled on his neck during an arrest.

The office of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison plans to charge Tou Thao, Thomas
Lane and J. Alexander Kueng on Wednesday with aiding and abetting Floyd’s murder,
according to reporting by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that HuffPost confirmed with a law
enforcement source.

The Hennepin County prosecutor had already arrested Derek Chauvin, the former police officer
seen kneeling on Floyd’s neck, last week, charging him with third-degree murder and
manslaughter. Ellison’s office is also planning to announce that it would be upgrading the third-
degree murder charge to second-degree murder.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) tapped Ellison, a former progressive congressman and civil
rights attorney, on Sunday to take over the case from Hennepin County prosecutor Mike
Freeman. Walz said he made the decision to put Ellison in charge after consulting with Floyd’s
family.

Floyd was killed on May 25 after the officers arrested him for allegedly attempting to make a
purchase at a store with a fraudulent $20 bill. As seen in video of Floyd’s arrest, Chauvin used
his knee to hold Floyd down by the neck even as Floyd’s pleads, “Please, man, I can’t breathe.”

Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd, who was apparently in handcuffs, even after he stopped
speaking and moving. He remained there as onlookers shouted at other officers to attend to
Floyd.

In another video, three other officers can be seen crowding around Floyd, who is on the floor,
during the arrest.

According to the Minneapolis Police Department, Floyd was pronounced dead shortly after
arriving at a hospital.

Floyd’s death, like other police killings of Black men, has sparked days of protests and public
outcry in Minneapolis and across the country.
Chauvin, Thao, Lane and Keung were fired from the police department, but protesters and
community leaders demanded that the officers be arrested and charged with murder.

The Minneapolis Police Department initially claimed that Floyd was physically resisting arrest.
However, surveillance footage obtained by CNN which captured a portion of the arrest does
not support that claim.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), a former Hennepin County prosecutor, hailed the decision on
Twitter as “another important step for justice.”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is increasing charges against Derek Chauvin to 2nd
degree in George Floyd’s murder and also charging other 3 officers. This is another important
step for justice.

The Fraternal Order of Police denounced Floyd’s arrest and killing in an official statement last
week.

“I do not believe this incident should be allowed to define our profession or the Minneapolis
Police Department, but there is no doubt that this incident has diminished the trust and respect
our communities have for the men and women of law enforcement,” Fraternal Order of Police
President Patrick Yoes said in a statement.

“Based on the by-stander’s video from this incident, we witnessed a man in distress pleading
for help,” Yoes said. “The fact that he was a suspect in custody is immaterial—police officers
should at all times render aid to those who need it. Police officers need to treat all of our
citizens with respect and understanding and should be held to the very highest standards for
their conduct.”

During an interview with CNN last week, Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, called for the
protests to remain peaceful but he also said demonstrators were “torn and hurt because they’re
tired of seeing Black men die. Constantly, over and over again.”

“These officers, they need to be arrested right now. They need to be arrested and held
accountable about everything because these people want justice right now,” Philonise Floyd
told CNN, calling for the death penalty.