George Floyd’s family win $27 million settlement from Minneapolis over his death in police custody

George Floyd’s family have won $27 million (£19.3) in a settlement from the city of Minneapolis over his death in police custody.

Mr Floyd died on May 25 after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee against his neck for around nine minutes.

His death sparked “Black Lives Matter” protests around the world.

The Minneapolis City Council emerged from closed session to announce the settlement. Floyd family attorney Ben Crump called a news conference for 1 pm that was to include family members.

Mr Crump, in a prepared statement, said it was the largest pretrial civil rights settlement ever, and “sends a powerful message that Black lives do matter and police brutality against people of colour must end.”

The settlement includes $500,000 for the south Minneapolis neighbourhood that includes the 38th and Chicago intersection that has been blocked by barricades since his death, with a massive metal sculpture and murals in his honour.

“I hope that today will centre the voices of the family and anything that they would like to share,” Council President Lisa Bender said. “But I do want to, on behalf of the entire City Council, offer my deepest condolences to the family of George Floyd, his friends and all of our community who are mourning his loss.”

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 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.

In 2019, Minneapolis agreed to pay $20 million to the family of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, an unarmed woman who was shot by an officer after she called 911 to report hearing a possible crime happening behind her home, to settle her family’s civil rights lawsuit. Damond was white.