Three former Minneapolis police officers will go on trial on Jan. 20 after they were charged with federal civil rights violations in connection to the murder of George Floyd.
The date was previously noted in court records in November, but it was confirmed for the first time on Thursday in a docket filing, according to The Associated Press.
The ex-officers — Tou Thao, J. Kueng and Thomas Lane — will stand trial in St. Paul later this month before facing separate state charges for aiding and abetting in Floyd’s death, the AP reported.
The three are charged in the federal case with using their government authority to deprive Floyd of his rights.
The trial comes about nine months after Derek Chauvin was convicted for second-degree murder, second-degree manslaughter and third-degree murder. In May 2020, Chauvin, who is white, knelt on Floyd’s neck for nearly ten minutes as the 46-year-old Black man said he could not breathe.
During the trial against Chauvin, evidence showed that the other three officers helped restrain Floyd in the moments preceding his death. Specifically, Kueng knelt on Floyd’s back, and Lane held down his legs while Thao held back bystanders to prevent them from intervening, the AP noted.
Last month, Chauvin pleaded guilty to the federal charges against him for kneeling on Floyd’s neck when he was handcuffed and not resisting. Chauvin, who initially pleaded not guilty to violating the 46-year-old’s constitutional rights, also failed to provide him with medical care.