Three other officers who were involved in George Floyd's murder have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder, while Derek Chauvin's murder charge was also heightened Wednesday.
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One of the demands of the protesters who have been demonstrating for days over Floyd's murder was that action be taken against the other three policemen involved in the incident of May 25. Now, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison also charged Thomas Lane, J. Kueng, and Tou Thao.
On May 31, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz praised on Twitter the fact that Ellison was in charge of the process.
"Having A.G Keith Ellison leading this prosecution keeps faith with our commitment to ensure justice for George Floyd. Thank you, Attorney General. I can think of nobody better to do this critical work," he posted.
Meanwhile, Chauvin, the cop in the video holding his knee to Floyd's neck, fired a day after the incident and initially charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, was now charged by prosecutors with a more serious offense, a second-degree murder, after an official autopsy confirmed on Tuesday Floyd's death was the result of homicide.
Chauvin pressed Floyd's neck to the ground with his knee for nearly nine minutes, even though Floyd keep complaining that he couldn't breathe. The death sparked almost a week of protests across all states, leading to violent confrontations between protesters and police forces.