The city of Minneapolis has agreed to pay $27 million to settle a civil lawsuit with the family of George Floyd a matter of weeks before the trial is scheduled to commence for the former municipal police officer charged with Floyd's murder.
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The Minneapolis City Council unanimously approved the settlement this Friday, having emerged from a closed session to announce the decision, which includes $500,000 in grants for the neighborhood where Floyd was arrested and killed.
Floyd, who was African-American, was declared dead on 25 May 2020 after Derek Chauvin, a white former police officer, pressed his knee against Floyd's neck for about nine minutes. Floyd’s death sparked mass protests in Minneapolis, across the U.S., and worldwide against police brutality and led to an international reckoning on racial justice issues.
According to a statement made Friday by the Floyd family's attorney, Ben Crump, "George Floyd’s horrific death, witnessed by millions of people around the world, unleashed a deep longing and undeniable demand for justice and change."