Former US agent J. Alexander Kueng was sentenced to an additional 3.5 years in prison for his involvement in the death of George Floyd in May 2020. Kueng was already sentenced to 3.5 years in prison in July. He can serve prison sentences at the same time. This is possible because the first sentence was imposed by a federal court and the second by a state court in Minnesota.
Kueng, 29, was one of four officers who responded to a report about Floyd. He was suspected of using a counterfeit $20 bill at a store to buy cigarettes. During the arrest, Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for several minutes. The black American was later killed.
Kueng pleaded guilty to complicity in manslaughter in October. He and another officer, Thomas Lane, helped Chauvin restrain Floyd, while a fourth officer held off bystanders.
The four officers were fired shortly after the incident. Chauvin was found guilty of murder by a jury in 2021 and was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison. Last July he was sentenced to another 21 years for violating Floyd’s civil rights. Chauvin can also serve those sentences at the same time.
Kueng and the other two officers were sentenced to 3.5 years in prison in July for violating Floyd’s civil rights. Lane was sentenced to an additional three years in prison in September for complicity in manslaughter. There is still a trial against the fourth agent, Tou Thao.
The deaths of Floyd and other black people from police brutality led to large demonstrations across the United States in 2020. These so-called Black Lives Matter protests then spread to the rest of the world. Massive protests against racism also took place in the Netherlands.
