Four years after George Floyd’s death, he is the first of four convicted ex-police officers to regain freedom. Thomas Lane, a 41-year-old Minneapolis law enforcement officer, was released from prison after serving three years. He was convicted of being passive during the murder of the African-American on May 25, 2020, committed by his colleague Derek Chauvin, who knelt on the neck of this 46-year-old man for almost ten minutes. The scene triggered an earthquake in the country, but also outside, giving rise to a wave of massive protests.
Thomas Lane was released from custody on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed to several US media outlets, including ABC News and CNN. In May 2022, he pleaded guilty in Minnesota to accessory to second-degree manslaughter.
“I wish him a good reintegration”
In particular, he admitted that he had deliberately tried to control George Floyd on the ground, knowing the risk this represented to the victim. He also admitted to having heard him say that he could not breathe, and then to have noticed that he was no longer talking and that he no longer had a pulse, according to the AP Agency. Prosecutors then agreed to drop that charge as part of a plea deal and sentenced him to three years in prison.
A few months earlier, the officer had also been found guilty of “violating the victim’s civil rights” along with two other former Minneapolis police officers, Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao, in another case in federal court. He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for these actions. Prosecutors had originally sought more than five years in prison for him, but his sentence was reduced after his lawyer pointed out that Thomas Lane suggested placing George Floyd on his side and tried to revive him when help arrived.
The former police officer served his two sentences concurrently at FCI Englewood federal prison in Colorado, reports ABC News. His two-and-a-half-year sentence ended earlier this year, while the other ended on Tuesday. “Thomas Lane has served his sentence and paid his debt to society. I wish him the best of luck reintegrating into his community,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said, as quoted by the channel. The Federal Bureau of Prisons indicated he would be placed under supervision for two more years, according to CNN.
Two other former police officers were due to be released in 2025
On May 25, 2020, then newly recruited by the Minneapolis police, Thomas Lane was patrolling with another rookie, Alexander Kueng, when a merchant accused George Floyd of selling a counterfeit bill in his store. The two police officers then struggled to get the forty-year-old into their vehicle before being joined by two experienced officers, Derek Chauvin and Tou Thao. The four pinned the man to the ground and handcuffed him.
Derek Chauvin then pressed his knee against his neck for long minutes while Thomas Lane held his leg and Alexander Kueng immobilized his torso. Tou Thao had kept angry passers-by at bay. Despite the pleas of the forty-year-old, who repeated “I can’t breathe”, his moans and finally his loss of consciousness, none of the agents had moved. The scene was filmed and posted online, sparking a huge wave of protests against police brutality and racism, even internationally.
Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao, who were also found guilty of “violating civil rights”, received prison terms of three and three and a half years respectively. Regarding complicity in manslaughter, the first also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three and a half years in prison, while the second received five years in prison. As in the case of Thomas Lane, these sentences are concurrent, so Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao will spend a total of three and a half and five years behind bars, respectively, reports CBS News. They are both expected to be released in 2025, according to the AP agency.
Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder and sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison. The Supreme Court rejected his appeal of that conviction in November 2023. He was transferred to a federal prison in Big Springs, Texas, on Tuesday after being stabbed more than twenty times by a fellow inmate at the Phoenix, Arizona detention center. A transfer unrelated to the release of Thomas Lane.