美国国家公共电台 NPR--三名涉弗洛伊德案前警员因“侵犯民权”获罪

3 ex-police officers are found guilty of violating George Floyd's civil rights

Transcript¹

The three former Minneapolis police officers have been found guilty of federal crimes — for failing to intervene as a fellow officer killed George Floyd by kneeling on his neck.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Now to a story in Minnesota. Three former Minneapolis police officers face the possibility of time in federal prison after a jury convicted them for violating George Floyd's civil rights. The men were on duty with Derek Chauvin in May of 2020 when he killed Floyd by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes while arresting him. Matt Sepic of Minnesota Public Radio reports.

MATT SEPIC, BYLINE²: Following a trial that lasted nearly five weeks, jurors took about a day and a half to convict J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao of failing to provide George Floyd with medical care. The jury also convicted Kueng and Thao of failing to intervene to stop Derek Chauvin, who was the most senior officer at the scene. Reactions in the St. Paul courtroom were generally muted as Judge Paul Magnuson read the verdicts. Lane and his attorney both shook their heads. Charles Kovats, Minnesota's acting³ U.S. attorney, said the convictions yesterday should send a clear message to all who wear the badge.

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CHARLES KOVATS: This is a reminder⁴ that all sworn law enforcement officers, regardless of rank or seniority, individually and independently have a duty to intervene and provide medical aid to those in their custody⁵. It's a fundamental duty of policing. It's good policing. In their custody is in their care.

SEPIC: In a statement, Attorney General Merrick Garland added that the Justice Department will, quote, "continue to seek accountability for law enforcement officers whose actions or failure to act violate their constitutional duty to protect the civil rights of our citizens." Chauvin pleaded guilty in the federal civil rights case. He's already serving a 22-1/2-year sentence for murder after a state jury convicted him last spring. Kueng, Lane and Thao all testified in their own defense⁶. At trial, Thao's attorney, Robert Paule, called Floyd's death a tragedy but said that, quote, "a tragedy is not a crime." The defense also focused on Floyd's initial resistance to arrest and what they argued was poor training on the police department's duty to intervene policy. The defense team declined to comment on the jury's decision for this story. Floyd's nephew, Brandon Williams, called the verdicts historic.

BRANDON WILLIAMS: Oftentimes, you know, officers kill Black and brown men and women, and we get little to no consequences. A lot of times, we don't even get charges, let alone with conviction. You know, so we'll take this small victory, you know, and smile about it and be happy. But deep down, we're still hurting.

SEPIC: While the court did not provide a racial breakdown⁷ of the jury, the four men and eight women appeared to be all white. Williams says he was initially⁸ concerned by that but became increasingly confident that they would return convictions.

WILLIAMS: I think when you look at the video, anybody that's human knew what happened. You know, at the end of the day, race shouldn't cover up right and wrong, and what happened in that video was clearly wrong.

SEPIC: Philonise Floyd added that he thinks the three former officers are as responsible for his brother's death as Chauvin is and that they deserve lengthy⁹ prison terms.

PHILONISE FLOYD: They could have stopped him. They knew what was going on. No matter how anybody put it, they knew what was going on.

SEPIC: Kueng, Lane and Thao are expected to remain free on bond until they're sentenced. The men still face another trial this summer on state charges of aiding and abetting¹⁰ murder and manslaughter.

For NPR News, I'm Matt Sepic in Minneapolis.

(SOUNDBITE OF OSCAR HOLLIS' "AURORA")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

4 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

5 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

8 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

9 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

10 abetting   

v.教唆（犯罪）( abet的现在分词 )；煽动；怂恿；支持

参考例句：

• On Earth, unknowingly abetting a criminal doesn't merit this kind of punishment. 在地球上，不知不觉地帮助罪犯并不构成这种惩罚。 来自电影对白
• "By aiding and abetting murder, the Taliban regime is committing murder." 援助和唆使谋杀的塔利班政权与杀人犯同罪。 来自互联网