'Largest settlement' Minneapolis to pay George Floyd’s family $27 million

The lawyers of the family of George Floyd, the black man who died while a white police officer pinned his neck to the floor, said Friday that they have reached a $27 million settlement with Minneapolis, the city where Mr Floyd died.

In what they described as “wrongful death,” the attorneys said the settlement was the “largest pre-trial settlement in a civil rights wrongful death case in US history,” local media reported.

“George Floyd’s horrific death, witnessed by millions of people around the world, unleashed a deep longing and undeniable demand for justice and change,” Ben Crump, one of Mr Floyd’s family lawyers, said.

“That the largest pre-trial settlement in a wrongful death case ever would be for the life of a black man sends a powerful message that Black lives do matter and police brutality against people of colour must end,” Mr Crump added.

The settlement was to resolve the lawsuits, filed in July, against Minneapolis police department and – Chauvin Derek, Tao Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Keung – the officers involved in Mr Floyd’s death.

Mr Chauvin, who was last May caught on camera pinning Mr Floyd’s neck to the ground while he gasped for breath and cried for help, is on trial for murder and manslaughter.

The three other police officers who were at the scene are also facing charges.