George Floyd’s family to receive $35m from Minneapolis as murder trial jury selection goes on

The city of Minneapolis will pay $US27 million ($35 million) to settle a civil lawsuit brought by the family of George Floyd over his death in US police custody last year.

The announcement came as jury selection continued in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former officer accused of murdering the 46-year-old black man as he made a routine arrest on a Minneapolis street.

The Minneapolis City Council emerged from a closed session to announce the settlement on Friday.

Last year, the Floyd family sued the city and the four police officers involved, saying excessive force was used in violation of Mr Floyd’s constitutional rights.

Family attorney Ben Crump said it was the largest pre-trial civil rights settlement ever, and “sends a powerful message that black lives do matter and police brutality against people of colour must end”.

Mr Floyd died on May 25 last year after Mr Chauvin kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes, with his pleas for help captured on video.

It triggered one of the largest protest movements ever seen in the US, with demonstrations dominating a summer of discontent in major American cities.

Mr Floyd’s sister Bridgett Floyd said that she and her family were “pleased that this part of our tragic journey to justice for my brother George is resolved”.

“While our hearts are broken, we are comforted in knowing that even in death, George Floyd showed the world how to live,” Ms Floyd said in a statement.

His brother Philonise said the payment was little comfort for the loss of a close family member.

“If I could get him back, I would give all this back.”

The settlement includes a $US500,000 ($644,000) contribution from the family to the community at the Minneapolis intersection where he died, which has been barricaded against police access by residents and is filled with flowers and other tributes.

Mr Chauvin was helping arrest Mr Floyd on the evening of May 25 on suspicion of his using a counterfeit bill to buy cigarettes at the Cup Foods grocery store at the intersection.

The other three officers are due to go on trial later this year on charges of aiding and abetting Mr Chauvin in Mr Floyd’s death, which was ruled a homicide by the medical examiner.

The Minneapolis Police Department fired all four officers the day after the deadly arrest.

In 2019, Minneapolis agreed to pay $US20 million ($26 million) to the family of Australian-born Justine Ruszczyk Damond in another civil lawsuit.

She was unarmed when shot by an officer after calling police to a possible crime happening behind her home.

In Mr Chauvin’s trial, Judge Peter Cahill has set aside about three weeks for jury selection.

Five men and two women had been seated as jurors as of Friday afternoon (local time).

ABC/wires