(BrightPress.org) – Seattle’s city government has settled a lawsuit with 50 Black Lives Matter members who sued the city over allegations of “excessive force” during the 2020 George Floyd riots. They’re agreeing to pay out $10 million to the plaintiffs in exchange for an agreement that the city did nothing wrong.
An attorney for the city said that the move was the “best financial decision” for Seattle when factoring in the costs involved in a trial and the potential risk of a massive award or ongoing litigation. He added that there was a huge amount of resources devoted to battling the case and that the city would be better served by simply settling the suit and moving on.
City representatives indicated that the suit involved millions of pages of documentation regarding hundreds of interactions officers had with rioters and protesters that day. They include over 10,000 videos, a litany of court filings, and hundreds of interviews with witnesses. The case will end with no admission of wrongdoing by the city.
City officials indicated that the settlement wrapped up the majority of remaining cases from the 2020 riots. George Floyd, 46, died while in custody of Minneapolis police officers. Floyd was being detained under suspicion of using counterfeit currency at a local convenience store. The full story can be reviewed here in a recent documentary.
Floyd was restrained on the ground for 9 minutes and subsequently passed out and died. His death was ruled a homicide.
His death incited a wave of nationwide riots that resulted in billions of dollars in damages and dozens of deaths as the media ran with the narrative that Floyd, a black man, was killed by a white police officer. A viral video began circulating that showed Floyd being held on the ground with Officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s upper back or neck. In the video, Floyd can be heard pleading for his life and saying that he couldn’t breathe.
Seattle also settled a $3.6 million lawsuit which was filed by residents and business owners who argued the city failed to protect them from property damage caused by the rioters.
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