SURRENDER

Former Minneapolis Cop Pleads Guilty in George Floyd’s Death

State Attorney General Keith Ellison called it an “important step toward healing the wounds of the Floyd family, our community, and the nation.”

One of the Minneapolis cops involved in the death of George Floyd—which sparked a national wave of anti-Black police brutality protests in 2020—pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter Wednesday morning. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison called it an “important step toward healing the wounds of the Floyd family, our community, and the nation.” In exchange for his plea, Thomas Lane’s prison sentence will be served simultaneously with his federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights. One charge of aiding and abetting second-degree murder was also dismissed. Lane made his plea in the same courtroom where former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted in 2021 of Floyd’s murder after he placed his knee on the unarmed Black man’s neck for nearly 10 minutes, preventing him from breathing. The two other former Minneapolis police officers involved in Floyd’s death—Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng—will face a state trial in June for aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter.