The four former police officers who were believed to kill George Floyd brutally were charged on Wednesday with a new charge. 

The officer who pressed his knee into George Floyd's neck until he suffocated to death, Derek Chauvin was charged with a more serious count of second-degree murder, and the three other officers on scene were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.

Photo source: BBC

According to CNN, 

"I strongly believe that these developments are in the interest of justice for Mr. Floyd, his family, our community and our state," Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in announcing the charges.

Floyd's death has brought huge protests across the United States against racism and the brutality of polices killing black Americans.

From the report of CNN, the new second-degree murder charge says he killed Floyd "without intent" in the course of committing assault in the third degree, according to an amended complaint. Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng, who helped restrain Floyd, and Tou Thao, who stood near the others, were not initially charged. Lane, 37, Kueng, 26, and Thao, 34, are now charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.

Derek Chauvin, 44, was arrested last week and is being held at the Minnesota Department of Corrections facility in Oak Park. His bail was increased to $1 million Wednesday. Lane, Kueng, and Thao were taken into custody Wednesday and are being held on $1 million bails.

Kueng's attorney, Tom Plunkett, said in a statement that his client "was asked to turn himself in to face charges" Wednesday afternoon and was in custody 15 minutes later.

Second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree murder are punishable by up to 40 years in prison. Manslaughter and aiding and abetting manslaughter are punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Video source: The Sun

Benjamin Crump, an attorney for the Floyd family posted on Twitter, saying,

"This is a bittersweet moment. We are deeply gratified that Attorney General Keith Ellison took decisive action, arresting & charging ALL the officers involved in #GeorgeFloyd's death & upgrading the charge against Derek Chauvin to felony second-degree murder," 

"We cannot celebrate because an arrest is not a conviction and we want justice," Crump told reporters on Wednesday. "We want whole justice."

And also, Ellison emphasized that the protests did not influence the charges.

"I did not allow public pressure to impact our decision-making process," he said. "We made these decisions based on the facts that we gathered since this matter occurred and made these charges based on the law that we think applies."

Tim Walz believed that these charges are a meaningful step.

"The charges announced by Attorney General Keith Ellison today are a meaningful step toward justice for George Floyd. But we must also recognize that the anguish driving protests around the world is about more than one tragic incident," he said.

"George Floyd's death is the symptom of a disease. We will not wake up one day and have the disease of systemic racism cured for us. This is on each of us to solve together, and we have hard work ahead. We owe that much to George Floyd, and we owe that much to each other."

Video source: CNN

Cover photo: Do The Bay | The Sun