# Tou Thao *Officer present at the May 25, 2020 detention and killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis* Tou Thao was one of three officers present with officer [[Derek Chauvin]] on May 25, 2020, at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue South in [[Minneapolis]]. That day George Floyd, 46, was detained and killed while Chauvin knelt on his neck.[^1] The record shows that Thao and the two other officers, [[J. Alexander Kueng]] and [[Thomas Lane]], did not intervene during the restraint. The restraint lasted 9 minutes 29 seconds while Floyd was handcuffed and prone.[^1] The neck restraint was listed as an authorized technique in the Minneapolis Police Department's use-of-force policy.[^1] Before that day, Chauvin had received 17 civilian complaints in 19 years of service. None produced discipline affecting his employment.[^1] The record carried here does not establish Thao's own service history, any charge against him, or any case outcome. A project at-issue entry states that Thao was released on bond pretrial and was not held at the [[Sherburne County Jail]]. The source cited for that entry does not itself document the custody facts.[^2] ## Who Thao is named in the record as one of the three officers present besides Chauvin. The other two were Kueng and Lane.[^1] The person detained was George Floyd, 46. He was held on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill.[^1] ## What Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck while Floyd was handcuffed and prone. The three other officers present, including Thao, did not intervene.[^1] A 17-year-old bystander filmed the events.[^1] At the time, the Minneapolis Police Department's use-of-force policy listed the neck restraint as an authorized technique.[^1] ## When - May 25, 2020: date of Floyd's detention and of the neck restraint, which lasted 9 minutes 29 seconds.[^1] ## Where - 38th Street and Chicago Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota.[^1] ## How many - Four officers were present: Chauvin, Thao, Kueng and Lane.[^1] - Chauvin had 17 prior civilian complaints in 19 years of service. None produced discipline affecting his employment.[^1] ## In the at-issue record The project's Sherburne County Jail brief carries one at-issue entry that names Thao (AI-Sherburne-092).[^2] It states that Chauvin was not held at the Sherburne County Jail. It states that Thao, Kueng and Lane were not held there either, and that all three were released on bond pretrial.[^2] The entry presents this as a negative finding stated affirmatively. Its listed anchor is a White House presidential action establishing a task force on fraud. That document does not itself record the custody or bond facts.[^2] The record carried here includes no court filing or jail record of Thao's pretrial release. ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Murder of George Floyd* (undated; via project timeline row TL-0881) — establishes the date, location, the officers present, Floyd's age, the counterfeit-bill detention, the 9 minutes 29 seconds restraint, the non-intervention of Thao, Kueng and Lane, the bystander filming, the MPD use-of-force policy listing, and Chauvin's prior complaint count. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_George_Floyd [^2]: Executive Office of the President, *Establishing the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud* (March 2026) — the anchor listed for at-issue entry AI-Sherburne-092 on Thao's pretrial release; it does not itself establish the custody or bond facts. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/03/establishing-the-task-force-to-eliminate-fraud/