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Officers Say They Did Not Intervene in George Floyd’s Murder Because They Trusted Derek Chauvin

HeadlineFeb 17, 2022

In St. Paul, Minnesota, the federal civil rights trial of three former police officers involved in George Floyd’s murder continues. On Wednesday, J. Alexander Kueng said he was following senior officer Derek Chauvin’s lead when Kueng helped restrain Floyd. Kueng also testified he never received training on how to intervene if a fellow officer used excessive force, and that he didn’t know if Chauvin was violating policy when he pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes, slowly killing him. Ex-cop Tou Thao presented a similar defense. During a tense exchange, Thao told the prosecutor, “I think I would trust a 19-year veteran to figure it out,” when asked why he did not intervene to stop Chauvin.

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