Minneapolis to pay record $27M to settle lawsuit with George Floyd’s family
MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis will pay a record $27 million to settle the lawsuit brought by George Floyd’s family.
Attorneys for the family called it the “largest pretrial settlement in a civil rights wrongful death case in U.S. history.”
“When George Floyd was horrifically killed on May 25, 2020, it was a watershed moment for America,” family attorney Ben Crump said at a Friday afternoon news conference. “It was one of the most egregious and shocking documentations of an American citizen being tortured to death by a police officer ... one of the worst ever witnessed in history.
“History will judge us for how we responded to this tragedy.”
Crump applauded Mayor Jacob Frey and council members for the settlement, saying Minneapolis was being watched in its darkest hour: “Now the city can be a beacon of hope and light and change for cities across America and across the globe.”
With the mayor standing nearby, Crump complimented the city’s police reforms since Floyd’s death and urged further changes.
“Mayor Frey, you have our word, our voices and our might to help you muscle through additional change that will transform policing in Minneapolis and hopefully policing in America.”
At the news conference, Frey called this moment a “once in a generation opportunity to truly effectuate change.”
Floyd’s nephew, Brandon Williams, said he hopes the settlement changes the way policing is done.
“They’re supposed to protect and serve ... Had the officer deescalated the situation, we’re not here doing this press conference, George is still alive,” Williams said. “We’d give the settlement back gladly to have George here with us.”
After a roughly 40-minute private meeting Friday afternoon, City Council members voted unanimously to approve the settlement, and Frey’s office said he will approve it as well.
Of the $27 million, $500,000 will be used “for the benefit of the community around 38th and Chicago,” where Floyd died, according to the city.
“This is a deeply traumatic event that, unfortunately, is a part of too many Black and brown families’ realities,” Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins said after the vote. “There is no amount of money that can replace a brother, a son, a nephew, a father, a loved one but what we can do is continue to work towards justice and equity and equality in the city of Minneapolis and that’s what I commit to do.”
After rereading the Pulitzer Prize winning “Profiles in Courage,” I decided to look at Georgians who have shown themselves honorable and courageous.
The search is still on for historical purposes.
Many are asking if one can speak the truth and still be a Republican. Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, Secretary of State
Brad Raffensperger and state elections official Gabriel Sterling have been asked that question and all three have stated without hesitation, “Yes we can.”
These three Georgia Republicans were interviewed and their unwavering honesty was something to behold even as they faced “firing squads.” As the interviewers continued to ask questions about tough subjects that some Republicans have been having problems answering. The three men did not waver at all. They did not pivot.
They stood fast on the truth as they knew it and saw it and said that the election was not stolen. They stood fast and said that the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol should not have happened because it happened based on the Big Lie. They said that it is important for honesty, integrity and decency to prevail. All three played a major part in overseeing the state’s election and, from their positions, they only saw an election that was fair. And they were willing to suffer for their stand, if suffering they must endure.
These three men represent what the Republican Party once stood for. Conservative values should represent honest and integrity, and they realized that they did not have to become Democrats in order to stand for those values.
The three politicians should have made people who are not willing to sell their soul to the devil proud to be humans with spines. They spoke as men who have something bigger to strive for than power and status in the sight of men who are not in a position to send them to heaven or hell. They are the three who will have a chapter in the history books as our Profiles in Courage 20202021 personalities.
Geoff Duncan, Brad Raffensperger and Gabriel Sterling have chosen to put country before party, truth before lies, and justice before abuse. They have chosen to be able to say to their children that truth does matter, even to Republicans. For some it does not matter, I am sure, and many outsiders must be wondering when the party will be the party that stands for prolife, after watching the babies at the wall taken from parents and placed in the hands of strangers. When will the party be able to represent the National Anthem and the Constitution, after the Ron Johnsons and the Stephen Millers have stepped all over them with their dirty feet of bad behavior?
People must watch what another one does, not what he says. Those three men will be able to represent the values of this country while others will be standing on the sideline asking, “Will the party be able to regroup by 2024 and be able to attract people with integrity and decency who regard all humans as worthy of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Will the party be able to attract people who believe that everyone must abide by the law and the law must be fairly applied? Will the party be able to attract Bible believers who live the life that is preached about? Will the party be able to pull in people of color who believe in justice and fairness for all, but are not represented by the Herschel Walkers, Kanye Wests, Tim Scotts and the Van Joneses, some of whom have been bought with a price?”
By no means is this to imply that all Democrats and people of color are decent and upstanding. But to get that percentage up from where it is, changes will have to be made in the thinking of the majority of the members in the Republican Party. A few will not agree to change because they are longing to return to the good old days that will be no more.
Georgia now reminds me of the Biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The author explains that the sin of Sodom was that “pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before God: therefore, God took them away as I saw good.” In the Book of Genesis, these two evil cities were destroyed by God with a rain of fire and brimstone (sulfur). Before the destruction, God sent two angels in the form of men to advise all good men to leave the evil towns. Abraham pleaded for the city, but could not produce any good men. They were asked to bring forth 10 good men and finally were asked to bring five good men. None were brought forth.
The question is, are there five decent men in the Republican Party willing to stand up for truth?
These three men stepped forth. Are there more?
As lawmakers begin work on a massive infrastructure bill that they hope to pass by this summer, a key question lingers: What’s to become of the gas tax?
The federal gas tax, which through the Highway Trust Fund has paid for highways since 1956 and transit since 1982, has been a key revenue stream for a portion of the nation’s infrastructure but has lost its buying power as cars have become more fuel-efficient. It hasn’t been increased since 1993, so it has not kept up with inflation. And with automakers such as General Motors saying they’ll phase out gaspowered combustion engines altogether within the next 20 years, it faces looming irrelevance.
The problem is there’s no clear, easy replacement.
Lawmakers say they prefer the idea of having a user fee pay for highways, but they’re loathe to ask people for the money. Democrats and Republicans alike have suggested replacing the gas tax with a fee based on vehicle miles traveled, but detractors argue that such a system is not yet ready for nationwide implementation.
That leaves general revenue.
The federal government has transferred more than $140 billion from the general fund to pay for highways and transit since 2008, according to the Tax Policy Center. Lawmakers and policy analysts increasingly say such transfers will likely continue.
If approved by Congress, the mammoth investment in infrastructure that President Joe Biden has proposed will probably be paid for largely through general funds, debt or other financing measures.
But that bill, which includes everything from rail to broadband as well as highways, is characterized as a one-time infusion of federal dollars aimed at economic stimulus. If it does pass, Congress will still need a steady stream of funding for maintenance and to give state highway departments a level of certainty for planning.
Some argue lawmakers haven’t made the tough decisions on the gas tax because they haven’t felt sufficiently compelled to.
“Anytime we want money, we get money,” said Beth Osborne, director of Transportation for America, an advocacy organization for multimodal transportation. “We didn’t ask to pay for the relief packages. We just did it, because people wanted it done.”