Minneapolis Officer Tou Thao: You Helped Kill George Floyd. It's Time To Pay The Price

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Right now Minneapolis and the state of MN aren't in the news for the right reasons.

A video taken by an onlooker Monday evening shows a Minneapolis police officer keeping his knee on the neck of a motionless, moaning man at the foot of a squad car. The man, who was later identified as George Floyd, later died. Tuesday afternoon, Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo announced that four officers involved are now "former employees" with the department, CBS Minnesota reports. Mayor Jacob Frey tweeted, "Four responding MPD officers involved in the death of George Floyd have been terminated. This is the right call."
https://kstp.com/minnesota-news/minneapolis-police-george-floyd-death-/5741256/

One of those officers, is being identified as Tou Thao by multiple news outlets:

A source with knowledge of the investigation identified two of the officers as Derek Chauvin and Tou Thao.
The source confirmed the officer seen holding Floyd down in a video of the incident is Chauvin. The other officer in the video is identified as Thao.
The two other officers that have been fired were not on camera. They have yet to be identified.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/minneapolis-police-george-floyd-fatal-arrest-officer-kneeling-neck/

THIS HAS GOT TO STOP.

Not only does the simple fact of police brutality---killing innocent men of color, primarily BLACK MEN--need to stop--but this officer--this ASIAN AMERICAN OFFICER Tou Thao--there's no gray here.

There's nothing you can even remotely defend.

He stood there, along with those other officers--AND WATCHED George Floyd DIE.

MURDERED.

In broad daylight.

As an ASIAN AMERICAN OFFICER who SHOULD be doing better for the community because he was from a community of color and immigrants, he was supposed to understand.

He was supposed to be different.

He wasn't supposed to buy in to the WHITE RACISM THAT ALLOWED ANOTHER BLACK MAN TO BE KILLED from atop a perch of OPPRESSIVE POWER structured by racism.

He should have said something.

He should have stopped him.

He should have done anything other than WHAT HE DIDN'T DO.

But this wasn't the first time either he'd been involved in a case with these same undertones:

In 2017, Lamar Ferguson sued Thao and another officer, Robert Thunder, for excessive use of force. According to the lawsuit, Ferguson and a woman who was eight months pregnant were walking home when Thao and Thunder stopped and searched them without cause. The officers handcuffed Ferguson, and Thao threw him to the ground and began punching him, while Thunder kicked him, according to the allegations.

Should have...

Could have...

But didn't.

And now another Black Man is dead by the hands of the police.

#InSolidarity #BlackLivesMatter