Former police officer jailed for role in George Floyd’s death says his ‘conscience is clear’

Former Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao has been sentenced to four years and nine months in prison for his role in George Floyd’s murder.

Thao had testified that he merely served as a “human traffic cone” when he held back concerned bystanders who gathered around as former officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, knelt on Floyd’s neck for nine and a half minutes while the Black man pleaded for his life on 25 May 2020.

At his sentencing, Thao claimed his “conscience is clear” before the judge said he was “hoping for a little more remorse, regret, acknowledgement of some responsibility and a little less preaching”.