Rookie cop in George Floyd death did ‘what he thought was right’: attorney
One of the rookie cops charged with George Floyd’s death was only “doing what he thought was right,” his attorney said Monday — fully blaming knee-on-the-neck officer Derek Chauvin.
It was Thomas Lane’s fourth day on the job with the Minneapolis Police Department when he helped pin down Floyd, 46, leading to the caught-on-camera death that has sparked protests around the world.
“He was doing what he thought was right,” Lane’s attorney, Earl Gray, told the “Today” show Monday.
“He did not stand by and watch. He was holding the legs because the guy was resisting at first,” he insisted of the 37-year-old rookie, who was fired and then arrested and charged along with the three others involved.
Chauvin was filmed keeping his knee on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes — during almost three minutes of which, the 46-year-old was completely unresponsive after repeatedly begging, “I can’t breathe.”
Gray said Lane questioned his superior’s decision to keep the clearly distressed suspect pinned down — but felt he had to follow his superior’s commands.
“When he’s holding his legs, he says to Chauvin, ‘Well, shall we roll him over because he says he can’t breathe?’ Chauvin says no,” Gray said.
“Now, if you’ve ever been in the military, you ask your sergeant should we do something and he says no, are you going to say, ‘Well no, I’m going to do it anyway’? I don’t think so,” Gray stressed.
Lane, Chauvin and two other officers — Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao — were fired from the Minneapolis police over Floyd’s death.
Chauvin is due to make his first court appearance Monday on charges of second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
The others are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
Under Minnesota law, the charges are tantamount to a second-degree murder charge, so Thao, Lane and Kueng face the same potential sentence as Chauvin — a maximum of 40 years in prison — if convicted.