Key Points
- Thomas Lane has been sentenced for violating the civil rights of George Floyd.
- His death in May 2020 sparked protests across the United States over the treatment of African-Americans by police.
A former Minneapolis officer was sentenced to two and a half years in prison on federal charges stemming from his role in the killing of George Floyd, an African-American man whose death sparked protests around the world against racial injustice.
US District Judge Paul Magnuson sentenced Thomas Lane in a federal courtroom in St. Paul on charges that he had deprived Mr Floyd of his civil rights and caused his death during an attempt to arrest him.
Judge Magnuson also ordered Lane to be placed on supervised release for two years after he serves his time in prison, a public information officer told Reuters.
Lane, 39, was one of four officers who were called to a Minneapolis grocery store on 25 May, 2020, and tried to take Mr Floyd into custody on suspicion that he used a fake $20 bill to buy cigarettes.
During the encounter, the senior officer on the scene, Derek Chauvin, pinned the handcuffed Floyd's neck to the ground with a knee for more than nine minutes, causing his death.
George Floyd's family says sentence is 'terrible'
Federal prosecutors had called for US judge Paul Magnuson to sentence Lane, who is white, to more than five years in prison.
His lawyers had asked for a much lighter sentence of just over two years, on the grounds that Lane had suggested placing Floyd on his side and tried to resuscitate him.
The judge went with 30 months, with two years of supervised release.
One of George Floyd's brothers, Philonise Floyd, told television cameras outside court that he believes the sentence duration is inadequate.
"[It is] insulting that he didn't get the maximum amount of time," he said.
"Make it make sense. He stood by and did nothing as my brother was murdered. The world saw it. He should be held fully accountable."
"It's terrible. This whole criminal system needs to be torn down and rebuilt," he added.
Other former officers await sentencing date
In February, Lane, along with two other former officers, Tou Thao and Alexander Kueng, were found guilty by a federal jury for their involvement in Floyd's death. No date has been set for sentencing Thao and Kueng.
During the trial, federal prosecutors argued that the three men knew from their training and from "basic human decency" that they had a duty to help Mr Floyd as he begged for his life before falling limp beneath Chauvin's knee.
Earlier in July, Chauvin was sentenced to 21 years in prison on federal charges of violating Floyd's civil rights.
Chauvin also was convicted of intentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in a state trial in 2021. He is serving a concurrent sentence of 22-1/2 years on that conviction.
In May, Lane pleaded guilty to state aiding and abetting manslaughter charges and agreed to a sentence of three years in prison. A state trial is scheduled to be begin in January for the other two officers.
