George Floyd’s Family Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Minneapolis Police Department

George Floyd

George Floyd’s Family Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Minneapolis Police Department

George Floyd’s family attorney Benjamin Crump announced a federal civil rights wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Minneapolis and the police department. Crump announced the lawsuit with his co-counsel Antonio Romanucci. The lawsuit was filed against the four officers involved in George Floyd’s murder and the city of Minneapolis.

The lawsuit states that the Minneapolis Police Department trains its officers to use deadly force in non-deadly circumstances and that the department has a history of permitting “Killology” and “warrior-style” training. The lawsuit also alleges that Minneapolis Police Officers Federation President Bob Kroll,

“has further encouraged officers to behave aggressively, stating that MPD officers who do not receive citizen complaints are ‘low-level slugs’ who ‘[don’t] get out and investigate anything. And that’s not what we’re paying our officers to do.’ Kroll has stated that policing should be viewed like ‘a basketball game, in that if you’re not getting any fouls, you aren’t playing hard enough.’”

At the press conference announcing the lawsuit, Benjamin Crump stated,

“We are going to have an important conversation that continues based on this lawsuit, it was not just the knee of Officer Derek Chauvin on George Floyd’s neck…it was the knee of the entire Minneapolis Police Department.”

Attorney Chris Stewart added,

“This case could be resolved in 30 days if the city council and the mayor want it to be. It’s about what do they care and how do they envision George Floyd. I’ve had some that have resolved in 60 days or 30 days because they cared about the case. I’ve had some that have taken 4-5 years because they knew they could out-wait all the media and out-wait the protesters and you’ll be gone in a few years. So it’s really about who your elected officials are and what they care about.”

The lawsuit does not specify an amount of money that the Floyd family is asking for, however the lawsuit mentions the prior deaths of Justine Ruszczyk, Jamar Clark and Terrance Franklin at the hands of Minneapolis police due to their use of excessive force. Justine Ruszcyk Damond’s family settled a  lawsuit with the city of Minneapolis last year for $20 million, making it the largest police misconduct payout in Minnesota history.

The latest news on George Floyd comes as body camera transcripts were released from the May 25 murder of Mr. Floyd. In the transcript Mr. Floyd told officers that he could not breathe 20 times prior to his death. The transcripts were released as a part of the investigation into two officers involved in the murder, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Keung. The two are trying to get the charges filed against them thrown out. Lane’s filing states that he,

“did not intentionally aid, advise, hire, counsel, or conspire with [Derek] Chauvin or otherwise procure Chauvin to commit second-degree murder.”

J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Kiernan Lane, Tou Thao

What are your thoughts on the Floyd family filing a wrongful death civil suit against the city of Minneapolis and the police department? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.