Minneapolis reaches $27M settlement with George Floyd’s family in wrongful death lawsuit

The family of George Floyd has reached a $27 million settlement with the city of Minneapolis in a civil lawsuit over his death in police custody last May.

The Minneapolis City Council emerged from closed session to announce the approvement of the settlement ojn Friday. 

Floyd family attorney Ben 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.”

"The past year has dramatically shifted our city's trajectory, and today marks another milestone in shaping a more just future for Minneapolis," Mayor Jacob Frey said in a tweet. "Our settlement with George Floyd's family reflects a shared commitment to advancing racial justice and a sustained push for progress."

"George Floyd’s horrific death, witnessed by millions of people around the world, unleashed a deep longing and undeniable demand for justice and change," Crump said in a statement Friday.

“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 to, on behalf of the entire City Council, offer my deepest condolences to the family of George Floyd, his friends and all of our community who are mourning his loss.”

The family filed suit in July against the city and the four former police officers involved in Floyd's killing.

The settlement includes $500,000 for the south Minneapolis neighborhood 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 honor.

In a statement released on behalf of the family, Floyd's sister Bridgett Floyd said she was pleased that "this part of our tragic journey to justice for my brother George is resolved."

"Our family suffered an irreplaceable loss May 25 when George's life was senselessly taken by a Minneapolis police officer," she said. "While we will never get our beloved George back, we will continue to work tirelessly to make this world a better, and safer, place for all."

It's a record sum for the city, but not the first settlement of its kind, Minnesota Public Radio reports. Civil settlements with the families of people killed by Minneapolis police in the last two decades include a $20 million settlement in 2019 for the killing of Justine Ruszczyk, who was shot and killed by former officer Mohamed Noor after calling 911.

“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 to, on behalf of the entire City Council, offer my deepest condolences to the family of George Floyd, his friends and all of our community who are mourning his loss.”

Forty-six-year-old Floyd died as he continually gasped, “please, I can’t breathe,” triggering massive rallies and clashes with police in many cities across the US.

Protests then spread to more cities in the US and across the world as the hawkish American President Donald Trump threatened protesters near the White House with the use of “the most vicious dogs and most ominous weapons,” reverberating memories of suppressing the uprising of blacks across the country during the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk