Remember how insane 2020 was?
In the midst of all the George Floyd insanity, you may have forgotten that a Minneapolis officer named Tou Thao, who just so happened to be standing nearby while Derek Chauvin was detaining George Floyd, was sent to prison for the crime of being in the area where Floyd overdosed and crashed out.
He spent almost five years in jail.
Former Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao has been released from federal prison and was seen in recent photos reuniting with his children after years behind bars. Thao was sentenced to nearly five years in prison over the 2020 death of George Floyd.
A fundraiser launched to help support Thao and his family as he rebuilds his life stated, 'After Tou's release from his political imprisonment, many have asked for a way to donate and show their support.
...
Photos shared to the fundraiser showed Thao on Tuesday embracing his children as they ran to him at a playground.
Here are those photos:
And here is the link to his family's GiveSendGo.
On that fateful 2020 day, Thao was helping arrest Floyd after a local store had called police, claiming Floyd had tried to use a fake bill.
Floyd, a career criminal, was found in the vehicle of his drug dealer and had multiple drugs in his system, including fentanyl. For several minutes, he actively resisted officers' restrained and professional attempts to put him in the back of a squad car, overpowering them at multiple points in the struggle.
When police were able to get Floyd on the ground, Officer Derek Chauvin put his knee between Floyd's shoulder blades, not on his neck as many believed. This technique is taught to U.S. law enforcement as a standard method of restraining suspects. As a crowd gathered, Thao tried to hold them back so officers could calm Floyd down and get him into the car.
Unfortunately, as they were surrounded by an angry mob, the officers did not perceive that Floyd, high on drugs, was having a cardiovascular event.
Thao was found guilty of "aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter" and his sentence included both state and FEDERAL charges.
Despite that, Thao's family says his faith in Jesus Christ was strengthened in prison, where he was able to be a witness for many:
What the enemy meant for evil, God used it for good. Providence sent him to a hospital prison. This allowed him to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with many terminally ill inmate patients. God healed many and many entered into eternity to meet their Savior.
On GiveSendGo, donors poured out prayer and thanks for Thao:
Thao did not have his children visit him in prison, not wanting to subject them to the trauma of such a visit. In May, he said this to Alpha News:
But for Derek being born white, we'd all still be patrolling the city of Minneapolis...
And:
I've missed birthdays, Christmas. I don't even know how tall they are anymore. Difficult to miss parts of childhood. Never get it back. All because people want to get promotions, publicity and make money.
😔
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