© Carlos Gonzalez/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS
Attorneys for the family of George Floyd sued the city of Minneapolis and the four officers involved in his death Wednesday, vowing to send a message that the police training and practices that target Black people and led to his killing must no longer be tolerated in the United States.
“This is a teachable moment for America,” said attorney Ben Crump, standing outside the U.S. Courthouse in downtown Minneapolis.
While not specifying how much the family will demand in compensation, Crump said, “This is an unprecedented case, and with this lawsuit we seek to set a precedent that makes it financially prohibitive for police to wrongfully kill marginalized people — especially Black people — in the future.”
Crump said that how the city leaders react to the demands put forth by the Floyd family lawyers will have consequences. “Their political legacy will be defined by how they respond,” he said.
City Attorney Erik Nilsson said in a statement that “George Floyd’s death is a tragedy. The city is reviewing the lawsuit filed by his family and will be responding to it. Criminal charges are pending against four Minneapolis police officers, and it’s very important that the criminal case proceed without interference.”
A spokesman for the Police Officers’ Federation of Minneapolis said the union is declining to comment about the lawsuit.
Attorney Ben Crump, who represents George Floyd’s family, announced in a press conference that the family of Floyd is suing the city of Minneapolis and the four officers involved in his death, citing a failure in proper police training and a racist departmental culture that led to a “reckless disregard” of Floyd’s civil rights Wednesday outside the U.S. Federal Courthouse in Minneapolis.
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SOURCE: Minneapolis Star Tribune, Randy Furst and Paul Walsh
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