City of Minneapolis to pay $27m settlement to George Floyd's family over his death

12 March 2021, 20:11 | Updated: 13 March 2021, 11:19

The city of Minneapolis has agreed to pay 27 million dollars to settle a civil lawsuit from George Floyd's family over his death in police custody.

The Minneapolis City Council emerged from a closed session to announce the settlement, which includes 500,000 dollars for the neighbourhood where Mr Floyd was arrested.

Mr 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.

Mr Floyd's death sparked violent protests in Minneapolis and beyond and led to a national reckoning on racial justice.

Mr Floyd's family filed the federal civil rights lawsuit in July against the city, Chauvin and three other fired officers charged in his death.

It alleged the officers violated Mr 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.

It comes after a judge granted prosecutors' request to add a third-degree murder charge against Derek Chauvin.

Peter Cahill, a Hennepin County judge in Minnesota, added the charge after the former officer failed to get appellate courts to block it.

Mr Cahill had earlier rejected the charge as not warranted by the circumstances of Mr Floyd's death, but an appellate court ruling in an unrelated case established new grounds for it.

Chauvin already faced second-degree murder and manslaughter charges.

Legal experts say the additional charge helps prosecutors by giving jurors one more option to convict Chauvin.

Potential jurors in Chauvin's trial return to continue the selection process that started this week.