George Floyd's family sues Minneapolis city
The family of African-American George Floyd, whose killing by a white police officer sparked a wave of protests across the United States, announced Wednesday that they sued the city of Minneapolis, where the death occurred.
The family's attorney, Benjamin Crump, said Floyd's relatives filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in Federal District Court in Minneapolis.
Floyd died of suffocation on May 25 in that city after Officer Derek Chauvin, now fired from force, pressed his knee to his neck for more than eight minutes.
A virally circulated video recorded by a passerby shows Floyd saying over and over that he cannot breathe, to which Chauvin remains indifferent.
The case sparked a wave of protests across the country condemning police brutality and systemic racism in the United States.
Floyd's family did not disclose the amount of compensation they are claiming, but the civil trial has the potential to award them millions in reparations, if they are able to demonstrate misconduct by Chauvin and the other officers involved.
In May 2019, Minneapolis was required to pay $20 million to the family of a yoga teacher killed by a police officer.
This is an unprecedented case, and with this trial we seek to set a precedent to make it financially prohibitive for future police to incur negligent deaths of marginalized people, and especially black people, Crump told the court in Minneapolis.
The four officers involved in the case have yet to be prosecuted for murder and charges related to Floyd's death.
Chauvin, 44, is being held in a maximum-security prison in Stillwater, Minnesota.
Floyd died of suffocation on May 25 in that city after Officer Derek Chauvin, now fired from force, pressed his knee to his neck for more than eight minutes.
A virally circulated video recorded by a passerby shows Floyd saying over and over that he cannot breathe, to which Chauvin remains indifferent.
The case sparked a wave of protests across the country condemning police brutality and systemic racism in the United States.
Floyd's family did not disclose the amount of compensation they are claiming, but the civil trial has the potential to award them millions in reparations, if they are able to demonstrate misconduct by Chauvin and the other officers involved.
In May 2019, Minneapolis was required to pay $20 million to the family of a yoga teacher killed by a police officer.
This is an unprecedented case, and with this trial we seek to set a precedent to make it financially prohibitive for future police to incur negligent deaths of marginalized people, and especially black people, Crump told the court in Minneapolis.
The four officers involved in the case have yet to be prosecuted for murder and charges related to Floyd's death.
Chauvin, 44, is being held in a maximum-security prison in Stillwater, Minnesota.
