The family of George Floyd, an African-American man who died during his May 2020 arrest, will receive $27 million in damages after reaching a settlement with the city of Minneapolis, the family’s attorneys announced Friday.
Minneapolis compensates George Floyd’s family
“This settlement is the largest in U.S. history in a fundamental rights case brought for a wrongful death,” they said in a statement.
George Floyd’s family filed a civil suit in June 2020 against the city and the four police officers involved in his death.
The criminal trial of one of them, Derek Chauvin, who had asphyxiated George Floyd with his knee by immobilizing him on the ground, opened Tuesday in Minneapolis. The other three officers will be tried later.
The death of George Floyd provoked a movement of anger unseen since the 1960s in the United States against racism and police violence, which has spread around the world, with demonstrations to the cries of “Black Lives Matter“.
The horrific death of George Floyd, seen by millions of people around the world, has unleashed a deep demand for justice and change…this settlement sends a strong message that black lives matter and that police brutality against people of color must end.
Ben Crump – one of the lawyers
the money will be used in part to develop the neighborhood
George Floyd’s brother, Rodney, called the agreement “a necessary step” to allow the family to grieve. “George’s memory, for those who loved him, will always be his optimism that things can work out, and we hope this agreement will do that,” he said. he added.
Part of the money will go to the development of the neighborhood where George Floyd died, which has become the rallying point for demonstrations in his memory. The police are not welcome there and several shootings have been deplored in recent months.
Advocates also praised Minneapolis City Council’s decision to transform its police force to create a “new model” of public safety.
“After being identified with George Floyd for tragic reasons, Minneapolis will be remembered for its progressive changes that can lead the country to think about how to reform and transform the relationship between police and communities of color,” said Antonio Romanucci.
Ben Crump had already negotiated a “historic” agreement with the city of Louisville, which agreed last September to pay $12 million to the family of a young African-American woman, Breonna Taylor, who was killed in her home during a police operation.
