An ex-Minneapolis law enforcement officer was found guilty of assisting in the killing of George Floyd. This happened after he kept onlookers at bay as his fellow officers detained the ailing George Floyd.

The last one of the four ex-law enforcement officers standing trial in state court for slaying Floyd was Tou Thao, who was previously found guilty in federal court of breaching his civil rights.

He turned down a plea deal.

Rather than having a trial, he allowed Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill to make the decision, based on the arguments made in written files by the parties and the proof provided in earlier trials.

His 177-page decision, submitted late on Monday, was made public on Tuesday.

Cahill reported that Thao’s acts weren’t permitted by the law.

He claimed Thao’s acts were completely irrational from the viewpoint of a fair law enforcement officer when considered in the context of all the other factors, which provides evidence beyond reasonable uncertainty.

While having over nine years of expertise, the prosecution contended in court documents filed in January that Thao engaged without bravery, showed no empathy, and ignored what he learned in training while being able to witness Floyd’s life slipping away.

Floyd, a black man, passed away on May 25, 2020, after policeman Derek Chauvin, a white man, held Floyd to the sidewalk for 9.5 minutes, using his knee on Floyd’s neck to keep him down.

Onlooker footage showed Floyd’s dying pleas of “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s death sparked protests and prompted a national discussion about discrimination and police violence.

In April 2021, Chauvin, the senior cop at the location, was found guilty of murder and manslaughter. He later entered an agreement to plead guilty in the federal case.

Together with Thao, two additional cops, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, entered guilty pleas to manslaughter and were ultimately found guilty by the legal system, too.