On October 24, 2022, Minnesota’s Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill held a hearing in the state’s criminal case against former Minneapolis police officer, J. Alexander Kueng, for aiding and abetting the manslaughter and murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020. [1]
Instead of the scheduled selection of a jury for the trial of those charges that day, Kueng and the prosecution announced an agreement for his pleading guilty to aiding and abetting the second-degree manslaughter of Mr. Floyd and a prison sentence of three and a half years. Kueng’s attorney, Thomas Plunkett, said that the negotiated settlement included dismissal of the second count of aiding and abetting second-degree unintentional murder and Kueng’s state sentence to be be served concurrently with his federal sentence for three years he’s serving at the federal prison in Elkton, Ohio.
In accordance with that settlement, on December 9, 2022, Judge Cahill at a short hearing imposed that three and a half year sentence on Kueng, who appeared virtually from that federal prison, but said nothing.[2]
Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank at this hearing said while he appreciates this guilty plea and Kueng’s taking responsibility for what he did, “it just took too long to get there. Mr. Kueng was not simply a bystander in what happened that day. In fact, he did less than some of the bystanders tried to do to help with Mr. Floyd.”
Frank also said that Floyd’s family and friends are trying to move on with healing, but that’s difficult to do with ongoing court proceedings. He added that prosecution has focused on the conduct of officers causing Floyd’s death, not an “examination on policing in general.”
Frank added, “But if some lessons can come from this case, all the better … Being a peace officer is a very difficult job, it is truly a profession. But part of that profession is dealing with people every day who are not having their best day. Who are struggling with mental health, who are struggling with addiction and other anxieties.”
According to Frank, providing medical assistance is part of the job, but officers didn’t do that for Floyd. “Mr. Kueng was more than just a rookie. He had taken all the education, gone through all the training and experience to become a licensed peace officer. He learned the law. He swore an oath to protect life, to put the sanctity of life as the highest command of the job. But that day, he did not follow that training or that oath … George Floyd is a crime victim.”
Kueng’s attorney, Thomas Plunkett, then disagreed with these statements from the Assistant Attorney General. Plunkett said Kueng was a three-day rookie after he completed his training while trusting his leadership, including now-retired Chief Medaria Arradondo and Inspector Katie Blackwell. However, “the chief rides off into the sunset with a handsome pension. Mrs. Blackwell received a promotion to inspector and Mr. Kueng, the rookie, sits in prison one year for every day he served the city.”
Plunkett concluded, “It is clear that leadership learned nothing and forgot nothing. They failed Mr. Kueng. They failed Mr. Floyd and they failed the community. Protesters have called for justice. Unfortunately, justice has become nothing more than mean-spirited revenge … I’m calling for progress. That way Mr. Floyd’s life and Mr. Kueng’s punishment will not be in vain.”
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[1] Kueng and State Agree on Guilty Plea while Thao Agrees to Judge Cahill’s Deciding His Case on Existing Record, dwkcommentaries.com (Oct. 24, 2022).
[2] Former Minneapolis officer J. Alexander Kueng sentenced in George Floyd killing, StarTribune (Dec. 9, 2022); Bailey, Ex-Minneapolis officer sentenced on state charges in Floyd’s death, Wash. Post (Dec. 9, 2022); Assoc. Press, Former police officer who kneeled on George Floyd’s back sentenced to prison, Guardian (Dec. 9, 2022).