“It’s going to be a long journey to justice. This is just one step on the journey to justice,” said the family attorney Ben Crump. “This makes a statement that George Floyd deserved better than what we witnessed on May 25, 2020, that George Floyd’s life mattered, and that by extension, Black lives matter.”
The settlement also includes $500,000 for the south Minneapolis neighborhood that includes the 38th and Chicago intersection where George was killed. The intersection has been blocked by barricades since his death, and has a massive metal sculpture and murals in his honor. The city did not give details how that money would be spent.
The death of George Floyd sparked nationwide protests and riots after the video of Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin pressing his knee on his neck went viral. Chauvin is currently on trial for the case. “However, this ultimately should not affect the criminal case,” said Ted Sampsell-Jones, a criminal law expert. “There has already been a ton of pretrial publicity — some of it bad for the prosecution, some of it bad for the defense. All we can do is hope that the jurors will follow Judge Cahill’s instructions and decide the case based solely on the evidence presented at trial.”