The family of George Floyd filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the City of Minneapolis and the four police officers accused of having caused his death.
The prosecution alleges that the police violated the rights of George Floyd when they arrested him, and that the municipal administration allowed a culture of excessive force, racism and impunity to settle within his police force.
The family is represented by lawyer Benjamin Crump, who has made himself known in other similar cases involving black victims of police brutality.
Crump said the lawsuit is aimed at setting a precedent “that will make it financially prohibitive for the police to wrongfully kill marginalized people – especially black people – in the future.”
George Floyd died on May 25 after Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, pressed his knee to the neck of the handcuffed man for almost eight minutes. A video of the incident went around the world and provoked many reactions.
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Constable Chauvin was charged with murder. Three other police officers who were on the scene are also facing charges.
The family’s lawsuit on Wednesday is claiming compensatory and special damages, the amount of which will have to be determined by a jury. The complaint also calls for the appointment of an official who will have to ensure that the municipality trains and supervises its police properly in the future.
Families of victims of other high-profile police interventions in Minnesota have received substantial damages in the past. Last year, the City of Minneapolis agreed to pay $ 20 million to the family of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, an unarmed woman who was shot by a police officer after calling 911 to report a violent incident behind her home . The subject police officer, Mohamed Noor, was found guilty of murder.
The mother of Philando Castile, a black motorist killed by a police officer in 2016, concluded an agreement of nearly $ 3 million with the municipality of St-Anthony, which was the police officer’s employer. Constable Jeronimo Yanez was acquitted of manslaughter.
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