Thomas Lane, former cop charged with killing George Floyd, makes bail

The officer on the scene of George Floyd's death with the least time on the force is released on bail

Jun 10, 2020

Former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane (Getty)

One of the fired police officers who was charged in the death of George Floyd has made bail. TMZ reports that Thomas Lane, the officer who had just four days on the job has been able to post $750K on a $1M dollar bail.

Lane’s lawyer, Earl Gray, told TMZ only that it was “pretty good news” when asked how Lane was able to post bond. His family did seek donations to help him get out of jail and for his defense, the site reports, but was unable to confirm if that’s how he raised the money.

Lane is the one officer out of the four who asked if Floyd should be laid on his side while he was lying prone on the street in handcuffs. He also, according to his family, was the one who accompanied Floyd in the ambulance and he performed CPR.

However, Lane, along with the three other ex-officers including Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd’s neck, was seen pinning Floyd down. He is the officer shown in the mask.

Despite Lane’s request to turn Floyd over, Chauvin would not let up and Lane’s family says that he was prohibited by the chain of command to intervene more. It appears that the family will cite his lack of experience as a factor in why he didn’t do more.

Chauvin, a 19-year veteran of the Minneapolis police force, had 18 citations on his record on May 25 when Floyd died after police were called to a forgery in progress call. Floyd was accused of passing a $20 bill at a convenience store in North Minneapolis.

Lane and former Minneapolis police officers Tao Thao, J Alexander Kueng were all charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder in a case that has generated worldwide protests for the last 16 days. Some protests have turned violent and looters destroyed and burned stores in several states.

Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder.

But in the wake of the protests and Floyd’s death, sweeping changes have been instituted in police departments including banning chokeholds and in New York, allowing police personnel records to be made public.

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