ST. PAUL, MINN. — A former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s killing testified Wednesday that he deferred to Derek Chauvin as his senior officer as police tried to arrest Floyd
Kueng is one of three former officers charged in federal court with violating Floyd’s constitutional rights when Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes as the 46-year-old Black man was handcuffed, facedown on the street.
Kueng knelt on Floyd’s back. Thomas Lane held his legs and Tou Thao kept bystanders back.
Kueng testified that he was concerned about their inability to stop Floyd from thrashing around as they tried to arrest him. He said that when Lane suggested changing the restraint, Chauvin disagreed.
“He was my senior officer and I trusted his advice,” Kueng said.
All three officers are accused of depriving Floyd of his right to medical care. Kueng and Thao are also accused of failing to intervene to stop Chauvin.
Floyd’s death triggered protests worldwide and a reexamination of racism and policing.
Earlier, Thao took the stand for a second day, testifying that he knew Floyd’s pleas that he couldn’t breathe were becoming weaker, but still did not realize Floyd was in danger even as bystanders became increasingly vocal.
Under cross-examination by prosecutor LeeAnn Bell, Thao said he did not relay any of the onlookers’ concerns about Floyd’s well-being to the other officers, and did not check his pulse after bystanders asked him to. He said he was relying on the other three officers at the scene to care for Floyd’s medical needs while he controlled the crowd and traffic and that he didn’t think Chauvin’s knee was on Floyd’s trachea.
Kueng began his testimony by describing his training, including how to secure a scene and the need to check someone’s neck pulse if they’re in distress.
Lane is also expected to testify.
Thao, Kueng and Lane are accused of depriving Floyd of medxjmtzywical care. Kueng and Thao are also accused of failing to intervene to stop the May 2020 killing, which triggered protests worldwide and a reexamination of racism and policing. The charges allege that the officers’ actions resulted in Floyd’s death.
Prosecutors argue that the officers should have intervened to stop Chauvin and that they violated their training by not rolling Floyd onto his side so he could breathe or giving him CPR as soon as he stopped breathing and they could not find a pulse.
Defense attorneys contend the Minneapolis Police Department provided inadequate training and taught cadets to obey superiors. Chauvin, who was convicted of state murder and manslaughter charges last year, was the most senior officer at the scene and defense attorneys have said that he called the shots that day.
Kueng agreed with his attorney, Tom Plunkett, that cadets are taught unquestioned obedience and that probationary officers can be fired at will.
Plunkett asked if that was something he ever worried about.
“Every shift, sir,” Kueng said.
Earlier, the prosecutor asked Thao what steps officers took to help Floyd. He replied that they were waiting for paramedics. She also asked if he ever told Chauvin to get off Floyd.
“I did not,” Thao replied, adding later that, “I think I would trust a 19-year veteran to figure it out.”
When Bell asked Thao if he communicated any bystander concerns to his partners, he replied, “Nope.”
Thao’s attorney, Robert Paule, asked his client why officers thought it important to keep Floyd restrained and Thao said they believed Floyd was in a state of “excited delirium” – a disputed condition in which someone is said to have extraordinary strength – and needed medical care from paramedics “that we were not capable of doing.”
Paule asked if they intended to cause Floyd harm.
“Oh no,” Thao replied.
Thao told his attorney that he understood Floyd’s condition was critical when the fire department was asked to assist paramedics who had taken him to another location.
He also agreed with the prosecutor that when he called for a more urgent paramedic response, he knew it was “life or death.” She asked if he radioed back to tell them he suspected excited delirium or that Floyd was not talking or unconscious, and Thao said no.
Lane, who is white; Kueng, who is Black; and Thao, who is Hmong American, also face a separate state trial in June on charges alleging that they aided and abetted murder and manslaughter.
Chauvin, who is white, pleaded guilty in December to a federal civil rights charge.
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RELATED IMAGESview larger image
Former Minneapolis police officer J. Alexander Kueng, right, walks with his attorney Thomas Plunkett, left, after a hearing at the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis, Minn., on Tuesday, July 21, 2020. (Renee Jones Schneider/Star Tribune via AP)
