FILE - This combination of photos provided by the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office in Minnesota on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, shows from left, former Minneapolis police officers Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao. The former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd's civil rights are scheduled to be arraigned in federal court Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. (Hennepin County Sheriff's Office via AP File)
George Floyd Officers Civil Rights
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Four former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights are scheduled to be arraigned in federal court today.
A federal grand jury indicted Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao in May for allegedly depriving Floyd of his rights while acting under government authority. At federal arraignment hearings, defendants can have the charges read to them, and not guilty pleas are typically entered.
Today’s hearing will be held remotely via videoconference. The hearing could also address several pretrial motions, including a request for Lane, Kueng and Thao to stand trial separate from Chauvin.
Chauvin was sentenced in June to a 22 1/2 year sentence for killing Floyd while kneeling on his neck.
The 45-year-old Chauvin, pinned Floyd to a Minneapolis street for about 9 1/2 minutes on May 25, 2020, ignoring the Black man’s cries of “I can’t breathe” and the shouts of bystanders. Video of Floyd’s death sparked protests in Minneapolis, some violent, and quickly spread around the world.
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