3rd ex-police officer charged in George Floyd’s death released from jail on bond

The third Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s death has been released from jail on bond, according to Hennepin County jail records.

34-year-old Tou Thao, posted a $750,000 bond and was released on the 4th of July.

Thao, faces charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder while committing a felony, as well as aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter with culpable negligence. He has not yet entered a plea.

He is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 11. Thao is one of the four officers accused in the May 25 death of George Floyd.

Floyd’s death sparked protests initially in Minneapolis and then in cities across the country over police brutality and treatment of Black Americans. The officers were fired the day after Floyd’s death.

According to a criminal complaint filed in June, Thao brought out a hobble restraint to use on Floyd, but the officers decided not to use it and instead “maintained their positions.” The complaint describes how Thao stood guard against onlookers as the three other officers held Floyd down by the legs, back and neck.

“The defendant then became concerned about a number of citizens who had gathered and were watching the officers subdue Mr Floyd, and potential traffic concerns, and so the defendant stood between those citizens and the three officers.”

Thao joined the Minneapolis Police in 2009 but was laid off that year due to budget cuts and reinstated in 2012. He had six police conduct complaints on his record, one of which was still open at the time of his firing.

Thao was also a subject of a 2017 police brutality lawsuit, which alleged that he and another officer beat a plaintiff during his arrest in 2014, breaking his teeth while he was handcuffed. The city settled the lawsuit for $25,000.