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Ex-cop Kueng (2020 police photo)
Photo: AP
Around two and a half years after the killing of African American George Floyd during a police operation in the USA, one of the ex-police officers involved has been convicted again.
In October, Alexander Kueng pleaded guilty to assisting and abetting manslaughter under Minnesota law and received a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence on Friday, US media reported unanimously.
Kueng is already serving a three-year sentence based on a federal conviction for, among other things, violating Floyd's civil rights.
Both sentences could be served at the same time, it said.
The death of African American Floyd on May 25, 2020 in a brutal police operation in Minneapolis triggered demonstrations against racism and police violence in the United States.
Videos documented police officers pinning the unarmed man to the ground.
White police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for a good nine minutes while Floyd begged him to breathe.
His colleagues Kueng, Tou Thao and Thomas Lane did not intervene despite Chauvin's actions.
Kueng knelt on Floyd's back during the incident.
According to the autopsy, he lost consciousness and died.
Kueng is connected from prison - and is silent
According to US media, Kueng was connected to the hearing on Friday via video from a prison in the US state of Ohio.
He declined to address words to the court.
Kueng admitted he held Floyd's torso despite his training in knowing that holding a handcuffed person prone posed a significant risk.
It was an agreement with the public prosecutor's office to avoid a longer prison sentence on a more serious charge.
Chauvin was sentenced to 22 years and six months in prison for second-degree murder by a Minneapolis court.
He's already serving that sentence.
In July, a federal court sentenced him to an additional 21 years in prison.
ktz/dpa
