Two Former Officers Reject Plea Deal In George Floyd Killing

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Two former Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s killing told a judge that they have rejected plea deals that would have resulted in three-year sentences.

The statements from Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng on Monday at a brief hearing in Minneapolis set the stage for trial in October.

The pair are charged with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death.

They and Thomas Lane were working with Derek Chauvin when he pinned Floyd’s neck with his knee for more than nine minutes as the 46-year-old Black man said he couldn’t breathe and eventually grew still.

Thao said “it would be lying” for him to accept a plea deal.