MINNEAPOLIS — The family of George Floyd will be paid $27 million by Minneapolis to settle a civil lawsuit filed against the city.
Floyd died in police custody on May 25 after now-former police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes. Floyd repeatedly said ‚“I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s death sparked protests across the country. His family filed the suit against the city in June, The Associated Press reported.
The Minneapolis City Council announced the record settlement after holding a closed session in which they unanimously approved it , NBC News reported.
The settlement also includes $500,000 for the neighborhood where Floyd was arrested.
The family’s attorney, Ben Crump, said the settlement “sends a powerful message that Black lives do matter and police brutality against people of color must end,” the AP reported.
The suit alleged that Chauvin and three other officers who have since been fired violated Floyd’s rights when they restrained him. It also claimed that the city allowed excessive force and racism to continue in the police force.
This is not the first time the city settled with a family of a person who was killed by police.
In 2019, Minneapolis paid $20 million to the family of Justine Ruszczyk Damond. She was shot by an officer after she had called 911 to report a potential crime happening near her home, the AP reported.
Jury selection for Chauvin’s murder trial began this week.
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