MINNEAPOLIS • A former Minneapolis police officer who was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison for aiding and abetting the killing of George Floyd became angry when he erroneously thought he might have to register as a predatory offender, saying his role was “minimal” when compared with Derek Chauvin’s.

“I gotta register as a predatory offender? What the (expletive) is that?” Thomas Lane, who pleaded guilty earlier this year to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, said after his sentencing hearing. The hearing was held remotely via video, and Lane made the comment after the judge ended the proceeding, but before the video session ended. Lane added: “That’s what Chauvin has to do. If I have a minimal role, why the (expletive) do I have to do that?”

Lane’s remarks were in response to the judge’s instruction for Lane to register as a predatory offender “if required by law” — something legal experts told The Associated Press is fairly standard language in Minnesota criminal cases, but that neither Lane nor Chauvin would be required to do. Lane’s attorney, Earl Gray, told his client he would look into the matter.

Floyd, 46, died in May 2020 after Chauvin, who is white, pinned him to the ground with a knee on Floyd’s neck as the Black man repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe. Lane, who is white, held down Floyd’s legs. J. Alexander Kueng, who is Black, knelt on Floyd’s back, and Tou Thao, who is Hmong American, kept bystanders from intervening during the 9 1/2-minute restraint.

The killing, captured on bystander video, sparked protests as part of a worldwide reckoning over racial injustice.

Lane is already serving a 2 1/2-year federal sentence after being convicted this year of violating Floyd’s civil rights. As part of his plea agreement in the state case, prosecutors dropped a more serious count of aiding and abetting second-degree unintentional murder. They also said they would seek a sentence of three years and that he could serve it at the same time as the federal one, and in federal custody. That state sentence is below the sentencing guidelines that range between 41 and 57 months.