Three former Minneapolis police officers are on trial for the arrest of George Floyd.

ST. PAUL, Minneapolis (Reuters) - A jury heard opening statements on Monday (24) in a federal civil rights trial of three former Minneapolis police officers who participated in the death in custody of George Floyd.

Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane were charged with violating Floyd's civil rights during the arrest of the 46-year-old Black man, who was handcuffed on a street outside a Minneapolis supermarket in 2020, a video of which sparked street protests against racism and police brutality worldwide.

Last year, their former colleague, Derek Chauvin, 45, was found guilty of murder in Floyd's death at the end of a state trial televised nationwide in April 2021, and a Minnesota judge sentenced him to 22 and a half years in prison.

Chauvin, who is white, was also charged along with his colleagues by federal prosecutors for violating Floyd's civil rights while acting as police officers. Chauvin changed his plea to guilty in December. Thao, Kueng, and Lane, who could face years in prison if convicted, pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors from the U.S. Department of Justice's civil rights division sought to convince the jury that the men deliberately failed to assist Floyd while he was unconscious as Chauvin knelt on his neck. The prosecution argues that a person in custody has the right to "be released from the deliberate indifference of a police officer to their serious medical needs."

Thao and Kueng face another charge alleging that they deliberately failed to stop Chauvin from using excessive force against Floyd, who was down and handcuffed, violating Floyd's right to be free from improper restraint.

After the federal trial, the three men will still face state-level trials for contributing to Floyd's murder.

Subscribe to 247, Support via Pix, Subscribe to TV 247, in the channel Cuts 247 and watch: