Both "Alexander King" and "Tu Thao," two former police officers and defendants charged with incitement and aiding and abetting second-degree intentional and unintentional murder in the "George Floyd" case, rejected a plea bargain as a form of settlement for the second time after being offered the same deal earlier, paving the way for their trial to resume on the twenty-fourth of October.
Returning to the case, according to court spokesperson "Matt Lehman" and "John Steels," spokesperson for Minnesota Attorney General "Keith Ellison" from the prosecution office in the case, Thomas Lane, a former officer and third defendant along with Alexander and Tu, has accepted the agreement, which stipulates a guilty plea as part of the deal calling for a three-year prison sentence, and the charge against him of aiding and inciting second-degree murder has also been dropped. Steels acknowledged that Lane will serve two years of the three-year prison sentence and is scheduled to be sentenced next September, although King and Thao's attorneys, "Thomas Blonkit" and "Bob Bull," declined to comment.
On the other hand, prosecutors revealed last April that the three defendants rejected the state's plea deal, with lead prosecutor "Matthew Frank" stating that the plea offers were identical and were presented in March after the three were convicted by a jury in a separate trial in February on federal felony charges.
To summarize the case details, or the "Floyd" case, which became a public opinion issue that shook America and the world: Floyd, aged forty-six, is a Black father who was arrested on May twenty-fifth, 2020, for suspicion of passing a counterfeit twenty-dollar bill to buy cigarettes at the "Cup Food" store, where former defendant King knelt on Floyd's back for nine minutes while Lane held his legs and Thao stood nearby without intervening. Floyd's killing was filmed by a passerby, which led to protests in Minneapolis and around the world against police brutality and racial injustice.