Jury Convicts Ex-Minneapolis Officers of Violating George Floyd’s Civil Rights

Left to right: J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, Tou Thao

Three former police officers face up to life in prison after being found guilty of violating George Floyd's civil rights by a federal jury in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Thursday.

After deliberating for two days the 12 jurors — four men and eight women — found ex-Minneapolis cops Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, culpable for their actions during the arrest of Floyd, whose death at the hands of fellow officer Derek Chauvin in 2020 on video was the catalyst for worldwide protests against systemic racism.

According to the Department of Justice violating a person's civil rights "is punishable by a range of imprisonment up to a life term, or the death penalty, depending upon the circumstances of the crime, and the resulting injury, if any." Federal sentencing guidelines, however, may make the most severe punishment unlikely.

Thao, Kueng and Lane were charged with depriving Floyd of his civil rights while acting under government authority and failing to provide Floyd with medical care. Thao and Kueng faced an additional count for failing to stop Chauvin from initiating the actions which caused Floyd’s death.

Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter last year in state court. A state trial is scheduled for June against the men on charges of aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter.

Hollywood Unlocked Blog in Hot Water Over Claim Queen Elizabeth II is Dead

Queen Elizabeth II

With the world seemingly on the verge of World War III and the ongoing pandemic, one hip-hop-centric news source with millions of followers and credibility for breaking stories found a way to stand out from the crowd.

Unfortunately for Hollywood Unlocked, the scoop it posted has been debunked and denied by multiple media sources and Britain's Royal Family.

The pop culture blog with 2.8 million Instagram followers published a post to its Instagram page that claimed "sources close to the Royal Kingdom" had exclusively told the blog that the Queen had died Tuesday.

The story alleged the 95-year-old, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 Sunday, had been found dead shortly before she was expected at British Vogue editor Edward Enninful's wedding.

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The reaction to the story was swift and brutal from traditional media. Print publications, broadcast and electronic media across the world called out the story as a hoax. That, however, didn't stop site founder and former "Love & Hip Hop" cast member, Jason Lee, from standing behind his scoop.

We don’t post lies and I always stand by my sources. Waiting for an official statement from the palace.

— Jason Lee (@theonlyjasonlee) February 22, 2022

“We don’t post lies and I always stand by my sources. Waiting for an official statement from the palace,” the 44-year-old Lee wrote on Twitter on Tuedsay. On his personal Instagram account, he added, "I've never been wrong," in a shared note that also indicated he would be hanging with Kanye West later that day.

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Unfortunately for Lee, his claims are looking even more unfounded. US Weekly reported that the sovereign attended her weekly conversation with U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday. The site said the palace confirmed the news to royal reporter Omid Scobie. 

Jury Convicts Ahmaud Arbery's Killers of Federal Hate Crimes

From left to right, Gregory McMichael, Travis McMichael and William "Roddie" Bryan

After deliberating for a little over three hours Tuesday, jurors in the federal trial of the three White men who chased and killed 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery as he jogged through their neighborhood in Glynn County Georgia in 2020 found them guilty on all counts.

Ahmaud Arbery

The jury determined that Travis McMichael (36), the man who fatally shot Arbery, targeted him because he was Black.

His father Greg McMichael (66), who pursued Arbery along with his son after seeing him running in their neighborhood outside, and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan (52) — who joined the chase in his own pickup and recorded cellphone video of Travis McMichael firing the fatal shots — were also found guilty of violating Ahamud Arbery's civil rights.

Ahmaud Arbery’s killers have been found guilty of all counts in their federal hate crime trial. The three men are currently serving life sentences after being convicted of Arbery’s murder in a separate trial. For all live updates https://t.co/9ilsfjAVSa pic.twitter.com/TEWgSfcRSU

— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) February 22, 2022

The trio, which was convicted of murder in a Georgia state court and sentenced to life in prison, was also found guilty of attempted kidnapping. The McMichaels were also found guilty of one count each of brandishing or discharging a firearm during a violent crime.

They now face up to life in prison for the federal crimes on top of their previous life sentence. Only Bryan would be eligible for parole.