MINNEAPOLIS, March 13: The city of Minneapolis on Friday agreed to pay USD 27 million to settle a civil lawsuit from George Floyd’s family over the Black man’s death in police custody, as jury selection continued in a former officer’s murder trial.
Council members met privately to discuss the settlement, then returned to public session for a unanimous vote in support of the massive payout.
It easily surpassed the USD 20 million the city approved two years ago to the family of a white woman killed by a police officer.
Floyd family attorney Ben Crump called it the largest pretrial settlement ever for a civil rights claim, and thanked city leaders for “showing you care about George Floyd.” “It’s going to be a long journey to justice. This is just one step on the journey to justice,” Crump said.
“This makes a statement that George Floyd deserved better than what we witnessed on May 25, 2020, that George Floyd’s life mattered, and that by extension, Black lives matter.” “Even though my brother is not here, he’s here with me in my heart,” Philonise Floyd said. “If I could get him back, I would give all this back.”
L Chris Stewart, another attorney who worked with the family, said the size of the settlement “changes evaluations and civil rights for a Black person when they die.”
“And what happens is that trickles down to decisions in the communities across this country. When there is a city council or a mayor deciding, ‘Oh, should we get rid of no-knock warrants, should we get rid of chokeholds, do we want to change these policie’ – they have 27 million reasons now why they should. And that will make decisions happen. That will make accountability happen.”
The settlement includes $500,000 for the south Minneapolis neighbourhood that includes the 38th and Chicago intersection that has been blocked by barricades since his death, with a massive metal sculpture and murals in his honour. The city didn’t immediately say how that money would be spent.
Floyd was declared dead on May 25 after Derek Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against his neck for about nine minutes. Floyd’s death sparked sometimes violent protests in Minneapolis and beyond and led to a national reckoning on racial justice.
City Council President Lisa Bender choked up as she addressed a news conference about the settlement, saying she knew “no amount of money” could bring Floyd back.
“I just want you to know how deeply we are with you,” she said to Floyd’s family members.
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.
In 2019, Minneapolis agreed to pay USD 20 million to the family of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, an unarmed woman who was shot by an officer after she called 911 to report hearing a possible crime happening behind her home, to settle her family’s civil rights lawsuit. Damond was white.
It wasn’t immediately clear how the settlement might affect the trial or the jury now being seated to hear it. Crump said the settlement is a way “to help shape what justice looks like” rather than waiting for a result from a legal system that many Blacks distrust. – AP
