Tou Thao, one of the four Minneapolis police officers sent to prison for being involved in the arrest and heart attack of George Floyd, spoke with Liz Collin on her podcast.
Thao was a Minneapolis police officer for almost nine years on May 25, 2020, when he responded with his partner, Derek Chauvin, to assist with the arrest of Floyd at Cup Foods at the intersection of 38th and Chicago.
WATCH:
Police bodycam videos and other videos show Thao standing in the street trying to keep the crowd back as Chauvin and two other officers waited for the ambulance to arrive on scene.
Thao called for an EMS ambulance “code three” just seconds after Floyd was taken out of the police squad car.
Thao also took part in the latest Alpha News documentary “Minnesota Mao,” which premiered just days after Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara resigned.
Coincidentally, the documentary premiered shortly after the judge who sentenced Thao, Peter Cahill, was appointed by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to a newly formed state council tasked with documenting “the truth” of Operation Metro Surge.
Thao said Cahill’s appointment “certainly has the appearance of quid pro quo. I suppose with the governor leaving office, it makes sense for him to reward his puppets and those who are willing to do his bidding.”
Cahill presided over the prosecution of former Minneapolis police officers Derek Chauvin, Alex Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Thao himself.
In talking about his own case, Thao said that “Cahill determined I was guilty before I even presented my case to him. So this is the person that Gov. Walz is appointing … perhaps he is the perfect person to implement a predetermined narrative to meet a judgment that Walz wants,” Thao added.
Thao also said that “both of them are like two peas in a pod. They wouldn’t know the truth if it hit them in the face.”
Ironically, when Thao gave his statement to the court in 2023, he spoke about his faith and standing up for the truth.
Cahill responded by saying that he hoped Thao would have offered more regret and “less preaching.”
He then sentenced Thao to more time than prosecutors had requested. Thao served more than three years in prison. He was released in November 2025 and remains on supervised release.
In talking about how his case was handled, Thao said, “I just wanted to expose the communist, Marxist tactics that were used against us and if they were willing to use it against us, I trust that they would be willing to use it against your regular citizens.”
“I want to expose and give the truth because what they want is to smother the truth. And I think we can kind of see that the last eight years in the Walz administration,” he said.
Thao also said that he “wanted to make it clear to the world that this is the truth that has been smothered for the last five years.”
Thao said that he and the three officers involved in the arrest of George Floyd knew early on that something other than justice was going on in their case.
“One of the things we wanted to happen was to release the body cameras as soon as possible just to show what true transparency is. We didn’t have anything to hide. So for them to not show body cameras is really an indictment on what they were trying to do behind the scenes,” Thao said.
Katie Blackwell: ‘She’s a disgrace to the badge’
With regard to seeking the truth—and telling it—Thao also spoke about the testimony of Katie Blackwell during the trial of Derek Chauvin.
Blackwell was the inspector for the Minneapolis Police Department’s training division when she testified under oath that she did not recognize the technique that Chauvin used. Since then, more than a dozen officers have signed sworn declarations accusing her of perjury.
“A true leader stands for the truth no matter what the cost is and to me Katie Blackwell did exactly the opposite. It was self-elevation and self-preservation in my opinion,” Thao said.
He also made a point that the mainstream media has yet to even mention, specifically, a key discrepancy between Blackwell’s testimony in federal court and her testimony during the Chauvin trial.
Thao said that Blackwell “had already testified in our federal court that the MRT was, in fact, trained… She already knew the truth. What she wanted was to weaponize the legal system to go and silence the truth.”
“In my opinion, she’s a disgrace to that badge, to borrow from former Chief O’Hara, I think they need to rip off that badge from her and destroy it and never use that badge number ever again,” Thao said.
In speaking about truth, justice, and integrity, Thao also spoke with Collin about being away from his wife and children while in prison.
“As a father, I can demonstrate to them integrity and truth and perseverance, no matter what the difficulty is. That hopefully in the future they can also demonstrate this in their life. So that is my hope for them,” Thao said.
A fund has been set up to help Thao and his family.
Liz Collin
Liz Collin is a multi-Emmy-Award-winning investigative reporter, news anchor, and producer who cares about Minnesota. She is the producer of The Fall of Minneapolis and Minnesota v We the People documentary films, and author of the Amazon best-selling book, They’re Lying: The Media, the Left, and The Death of George Floyd. Her work has prompted important state laws. Yet perhaps most of all, Liz has been giving a voice to the truth—and helping others tell their stories—for more than 20 years.
Dr. JC Chaix
Dr. JC Chaix is an editor, educator, and an expert in media studies. He wrote and directed the Alpha News documentary "The Fall of Minneapolis" and "Minnesota v We the People."
