George Floyd: Mother of Ex-Officer Charged Speaks Out, Says His Family Wants Him In Prison
By Ryan Naumann on June 27, 2020 at 8:44 AM EDT
The mother of ex-Minneapolis police officer J Alexander Kueng is speaking out for the first time since her son was charged for George Floyd’s murder.
Joni Kueng spoke to The New York Times for a wide-ranging interview about her son, his decision to become a police officer and how his siblings want him thrown in prison.
During the chat, Joni says 26-year-old J Alexander (who is black) thought joining the force would bring about diversity that could change the police department. Prior to deciding to become an officer, he had seen one of his siblings arrested and not treated well by the police.
On the day of George Floyd’s murder, J Alexander was the “youngest and least experienced officer at the scene” and was only on his third shift.
The Blast
Joni said the family has been a wreck since J Alexander was arrested and charged for his role. J Alexander’s mom revealed that two of his siblings, Taylor and Radiance, have joined the protests and believed their brother should be arrested along with the three other officers.
Radiance posted a video of George Floyd’s arrest on social media writing, “Just broke my heart.” She believed J Alexander should have stepped in when Officer Derek Chauvin had his knee of George’s neck. She said, “I don’t care if it was his third day at work or not. He knows right from wrong.”
She plans to change her last name to cut all ties with her brother.
As The Blast previously reported, earlier this month, J Alexander Kueng was spotted while shopping at a local grocery store in Minneapolis. A woman recognized him from the news and confronted him for being out and about.
The video was shot shortly after he was released from jail on $750,000 bond.
In the video the woman asks, “so you are comfortable shopping, as if you didn’t do anything?” Kueng said, “I wouldn’t call it comfortably, I would say getting necessities or helping.” The woman filming said she didn’t believe he should be walking around freely like “you didn’t kill that man.” She continued, “did you think people weren’t going to recognize you? You don’t have the right to be here. You killed someone in cold blood, you do not have the right to be here. We want you to be locked up.”
On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis Police Officers responded to an alleged forgery in progress. They arrived at the scene and paced George Floyd in handcuffs.
Ex-officer Derek Chauvin forcefully put Floyd on the ground and placed his knee on his neck. The autopsy noted his knee was on Floyd’s neck for over 8 minutes.
Video from the scene showed Floyd pleading “I can’t breathe” but the officers did nothing. Another officer, Tou Thao, can be seen scolding bystanders and telling them to back off. Two other officers, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng, were involved in the arrest but not visible in the video.
All four officers have been fired. Chauvin was arrested and charged with charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter. The three other officers, J. Alexander Kueng, Tou Thao and Thomas K. Lane, have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
