NEW YORK: A former Minneapolis police officer was sentenced on Thursday to two and a half years in federal prison for his role in the killing of African-American George Floyd.

Thomas Lane was convicted in February of violating the civil rights of Floyd, the man whose May 2020 murder by senior officer Derek Chauvin sparked protests across America. Lane, alongside ex-colleagues Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng, was found guilty of showing “deliberate indifference” to Floyd’s medical needs.

Chauvin, who kneeled on the neck of a handcuffed Floyd for nearly 10 minutes until he passed out and died, was convicted of murder last year and is serving 22 years in prison.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2022