MINNEAPOLIS — The Minneapolis City Council unanimously approved a $27 million settlement with the family of George Floyd, whose death in police custody last year sparked a summer of unrest and a racial reckoning over law enforcement’s treatment of Black suspects.
The settlement stems from a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by the family against the city and the four police officers charged with various counts of murder or aiding and abetting murder in the death of Mr. Floyd, who was under arrest for allegedly passing a forged $20 bill
Benjamin Crump and other attorneys representing Floyd’s family members are scheduled to hold a news conference Friday afternoon. Asked whether he would make an announcement about a settlement, Crump said, “all things are possible.”
“The city needs to exhibit responsible leadership in the face of the horrific tragedy that really was a watershed moment for America,” Crump said in an interview Friday
Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill, who is overseeing the trial, on Thursday granted prosecutors’ request to reinstate a third-degree murder charge. He had rejected the charge last fall on the grounds it was not warranted by the circumstances of Floyd’s death. But an appellate court ruling last month in an unrelated case established new grounds.
The Minnesota Court of Appeals ordered Cahill to reconsider whether to add the third-degree murder charge a week ago. Chauvin’s attorney, Eric Nelson, appealed that ruling, but the state Supreme Court said this week it would not intervene.
The three other officers involved — Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng — are charged with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and manslaughter. They are expected to go to trial in August. All four officers were fired the day after Floyd’s death.