MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The has declined to review the federal civil rights conviction of a former Minneapolis police officer who held back a concerned crowd while fellow officers pinned down a

The high court, without comment, on Monday rejected the appeal of who had argued that prosecutors failed to prove his actions on the day that Floyd died were willful, and alleged that prosecutorial misconduct deprived him of his right to a fair trial.

Thao had testified that he merely served as a when he held back concerned bystanders as former who is white, knelt on Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes while the Black man pleaded for his life on May 25, 2020. A bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s murder touched off protests worldwide and forced a national

Thao was one of who were of violating Floyd’s civil rights. Chauvin earlier, after being convicted of second-degree murder in a separate trial in state court. Thao and the two other former officers were convicted in state court of aiding and abetting Floyd’s murder. Thao is serving his 3 1/2-year federal and 4 3/4-year state sentences concurrently.

The U.S. Supreme Court of his state murder conviction in November. He’s recovering from being by a fellow inmate at the federal prison in Tucson, Arizona, later that week. He’s separately.

The Associated Press