The city of Minneapolis on Friday agreed to pay an unprecedented $27million to settle a civil lawsuit from George Floyd’s family over his death in police custody, even as jury selection continued in former officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial.
The Minneapolis City Council emerged from closed session to announce the record settlement, which includes $500,000 for the neighborhood where Floyd was arrested. Floyd family attorney Ben Crump called a news conference for 1pm that was to include family members.
Crump, in a prepared statement, said it was the largest pretrial civil rights settlement ever, and ‘sends a powerful message that Black lives do matter and police brutality against people of color must end.’
Floyd’s family filed the federal civil rights lawsuit in July against the city, Chauvin and three other fired officers charged in his death. It alleged the officers violated Floyd’s rights when they restrained him, and that the city allowed a culture of excessive force, racism and impunity to flourish in its police force.
The City of Minneapolis on Friday agreed to pay a $27million settlement to George Floyd’s family, as jury selection continued for a fourth day for the trial of Derek Chauvin (right)
Chauvin (pictured in court on Friday) faces charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree murder in connection with Floyd’s death in May
Chauvin is the police officer seen kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, for nearly nine minutes in Minneapolis on May 25. Shortly afterward, Floyd was pronounced dead at the scene
The lawsuit sought unspecified compensatory and special damages in an amount to be determined by a jury. It also sought a receiver to be appointed to ensure that the city properly trains and supervises officers in the future.
‘I hope that today will center the voices of the family and anything that they would like to share,’ Council President Lisa Bender said. ‘But I do want…
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