Aug. 20 (UPI) — An ex-Minneapolis police officer who was convicted in the 2020 killing of George Floyd has been released from federal prison, according to news reports.
Thomas Lane, 41, served his time at a low-security facility in Littleton, Colo., and officials previously had said he would go into supervision for a year after being released, according to officials at the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
He is the first of four ex-Minneapolis officers in the incident to finish his sentence and be released.
The federal portion of his prison time was completed in April but he stayed behind bars to satisfy a state sentence for aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, a BOP spokesperson told Star Tribune in Minnesota.
Lane, who appeared on scene with three other Minneapolis officers at the time of Floyd’s arrest and killing, already was serving a 30-month sentence in Colorado after he was convicted in July 2022 of violating Floyd’s civil rights. That conviction came for when former officer Derek Chauvin killed Floyd on May 25, 2020, in south Minneapolis.
In May that year, Lane pleaded guilty in Hennepin County to a state charge of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death and given his 2.5 year sentence.
Floyd, who was Black, died during an arrest when Chauvin knelt on the back of his neck for almost 10 minutes.
Lane was a fourth generation Minneapolis PD officer on his fourth day in the job when his career came to a screeching halt as a result of the incident. Notably, Lane was the only officer of the four to express any concern at the time over Floyd’s inability to breathe, later riding in the ambulance with an unresponsive Floyd while administering chest compressions in a futile attempt to revive him.
Cellphone video footage shows that Lane held Floyd down by his legs while other officers stood watch over a disapproving crowd. Despite repeated pleas for air, Chauvin did not let up which ultimately caused Floyd’s death.
Floyd’s killing at the hands of law enforcement galvanized the Black Lives Matter movement and sparked fierce nationwide protests that toppled numerous Civil War relics, Confederate statues and other historical monuments to slavery.
The incident then lead an angry crowd not long after Floyd’s death to set fire to a Minneapolis police precinct.
Chauvin was sentenced to more than 20 years last year after a jury convicted him of murder and manslaughter. He later pleaded guilty to a federal charge of violating Floyd’s civil rights and is due to be released in 2038.
J. Alexander Kueng pleaded guilty to manslaughter and is serving a 3.5 year sentence.
Tou Thao, convicted of second-degree aiding and abetting manslaughter, is serving a nearly five-year sentence.
Violent crime tends to pick up in summer months, and in July, Minneapolis recorded nine homicides, totaling 43 on the year, according to a Star Tribune database. A downturn since then now has the city just under last year’s count through Aug. 13. But homicides here remain up by two-thirds from 2019.
St. Paul is somewhat similar, showing 16 homicides this year compared to 21 last year through July, according to a Star Tribune database. That database does not stretch back to 2019, but according to police, who track homicides differently, the city recorded 13 through July that year.
That the Twin Cities have shown declines in homicides but are yet to return to pre-pandemic numbers is common among American cities.
Two-thirds of the 29 cities studied for homicide trends by the Council on Criminal Justice have not returned to pre-pandemic numbers, the report said. The Twin Cities were not included in the homicide study.
Homicides nationally are down 13% from last year and are just under 2019 levels. That’s largely because of significant drops in big cities that tend to have higher homicide counts.
If the trend can hold, a return to 2019 levels would mark a significant milestone considering homicides jumped by nearly a third in 2020, the biggest single-year leap in U.S. history, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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MINNEAPOLIS — Community groups are searching for solutions after four kids were shot inside a stolen vehicle in north Minneapolis over the weekend.
Police say the kids, two boys and two girls, were between 11 and 14 years old. One is in critical condition. The early Sunday morning shooting highlights what Minneapolis police say is a continuous cycle of kids, stolen cars and crime.
Leaders of the Agape Movement, based in south Minneapolis, are frustrated with the cycle.
“My first reaction when [we] woke up and saw the news was, ‘Oh no, not again,’” said Bridgette Stewart, the director of communications with Agape Movement. “[Those kids] are suffering life-changing consequences due to injuries by being shot.”
WCCO reached out to Minneapolis police who say they have not made any additional arrests, but this remains an active and open investigation. Police say two of the five minors in the car were arrested less than two weeks ago.
“We are failing to deter this behavior, and with that being said, we are failing these kids as well,” said Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara.
The Agape Movement hopes they can be a small part of the change.
“For us to see the rawness, the real emotion that came from [O’Hara] when he said we are failing our children,” said Stewart. “It takes a village to stop the killings and the village is everyone.”
“We need to pour into them. It’s being me, being what I needed at a young age, so I literally go hoop with them,” said Marquise Bowie, outreach for Agape Movement.
Agape Movement hosts frequent activities for kids in Minneapolis to engage in so group leaders can start building relationships and trust.
“Everyone plays a part. These children belong to everyone, and the moment they step outside of their house, they become our children and we all have to have a vested interest in our youth,” said Stewart.
O’Hara said problems like this will continue until these kids face consequences.
On Monday, the Hennepin County attorney is taking issue with that.
“None of the children who were shot while riding in a stolen car over the weekend had been referred to our office by law enforcement for youth auto theft early intervention,” said Mary Moriarty. “We encourage MPD to collaborate with us to ensure that youth can have access to early and effective interventions.”
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