Tou Thao ethnicity explored as former Minneapolis police officer convicted in George Floyd murder

Former Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao was found guilty of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter for his role in the May 2020 killing of George Floyd. As per court documents, on Monday, May 1, Tou Thao was convicted for his complicity in violating George Floyd’s civil rights after the officer failed to get him medical attention as former officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd's neck, resulting in his subsequent death.

While Tou Thao did not physically get involved in the incident, a Minnesota judge, Peter Cahill, who issued the verdict, said that the former officer kept the bystanders back and actively prevented an off-duty Minneapolis firefighter from rendering medical aid to Floyd, who was visibly distressed as he suffocated to death.

As per CNN, Thao, 36, was also accused of encouraging his colleagues Derek Michael Chauvin, Thomas Kiernan Lane, and J Alexander Kueng while they violently restrained Floyd on the ground, knowing that their “positioning could cause fatal asphyxia.”

Judge Cahill wrote in the verdict:

“Like the bystanders, Thao could see Floyd’s life slowly ebbing away as the restraint continued. Yet Thao made a conscious decision to actively participate in Floyd’s death: he held back the concerned bystanders and even prevented an off-duty Minneapolis firefighter from rendering the medical aid Floyd so desperately needed.”

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Who is Tou Thao?All you need to know about the ex-Minneapolis cop found guilty of George Floyd's murder

Tou Thao worked as a supervisor in a fast-food restaurant and was a security guard for a large medical device manufacturer before joining the Minneapolis Police Department in 2012.

Tou Thao, who is Asian-American, is of Hmong descent. Hmong are members of an ethnic group from southwestern China, who have been displaced for centuries after the Chinese began limiting their freedom in the mid-1600s. The population then migrated to Laos in Thailand and other neighboring countries.

As per MPR News, the Hmong people from Laos then migrated to the United States in the 1970s after the Vietnam War, as they faced retaliation from communist forces due to their partnership with the American military to fight Southeast Asian Communists.

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Tou Thao was involved in a 2017 police brutality lawsuit

As per Star Tribune, Thao, along with another unnamed officer, was involved in a 2017 police brutality lawsuit after Lamar Ferguson alleged that in 2014, two officers beat him and broke his teeth while he was handcuffed. The lawsuit was settled for $25,000.

Tou Thao’s guilty verdict comes after the conviction of three other officers accused in the murder of Floyd. Derek Michael Chauvin, Thomas Kiernan Lane and J Alexander Kueng have all been found guilty of their involvement in the incident that claimed the life of George Floyd.

The death of George Floyd sparked outrage and protests across the world after a viral video captured the incident. The video, documented by a bystander, showed three police officers violently restraining an African American man while one of them knelt on his neck while he pleaded for his life.

Derek Chauvin, who was seen pressing his knee on Floyd’s neck, was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter and was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison in June 2021.

Lane and Kueng, who were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, pleaded guilty to the latter and were sentenced to 3.5 years and 3 years in prison, respectively.

Thao, who was also charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and abetting second-degree manslaughter, was only convicted on the latter. The first charge, which carried 12 1/2 years, was dropped.