George Floyd family receives $27 million settlement by Minneapolis over custodial death

The Minneapolis City Council has agreed to pay $27 million to settle a civil lawsuit filed by the family of George Floyd, who died last year in police custody, even as jury selection continued the murder trial of the accused former officer.

The City Council emerged from a closed session to announce the record settlement, which includes $500,000 for the neighbourhood where Floyd was arrested. Floyd's family attorney Ben Crump called a press conference for 1 pm that included the family members.

Crump, 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 was declared dead on May 25 after Derek Chauvin, a former officer who is white, pressed his knee against his neck for about nine minutes. Floyd's death sparked massive protests in Minneapolis and beyond, leading to a national reckoning on racial justice.

“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.”

Floyd's family had filed the federal civil rights lawsuit in July last year against the city council, Chauvin, and three other ex-officers charged in his death. The lawsuit alleged that 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.

Third-degree murder charge against Derek Chauvin

Key accused Chauvin now faces an additional murder charge in the death of George Floyd after a Hennepin County judge restored a third-degree murder charge against him on Thursday, allowing the trial to proceed as scheduled. He already faces the charges of second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of Floyd, an African-American man. Chauvin has pleaded not guilty to all three charges. The addition gives prosecutors a third potential pathway to convict the accused in the case.

"The charge of 3rd-degree murder, in addition to manslaughter and felony murder, reflects the gravity of the allegations against Chauvin," said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison in a statement. "We look forward to presenting all three charges to the jury."

(Image credits: AP)