The family of George Floyd will receive $27-million (R403-million) from the City of Minneapolis to settle a lawsuit over his death in police custody on May 25, 2020.
Floyd died during an arrest after a cashier alleged that he tried to pay with a counterfeit $20 bill. One of the responding police officers, Derek Chauvin, knelt on Floyd’s neck during the arrest and Floyd suffocated as a result, an incident that caused widespread outrage worldwide.
The family’s legal representative, Benjamin Crump, said this was the largest pre-trial settlement of a wrongful death lawsuit in US history.
Floyd’s sister Bridgett Floyd said in a statement that the family is “pleased that this part of our tragic journey to justice for my brother George is resolved.”
“While our hearts are broken, we are comforted in knowing that even in death, George Floyd showed the world how to live,” the statement continued.
The settlement includes a $500,000 contribution from Floyd’s family to the community at the Minneapolis intersection where Floyd died.
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