The Minneapolis City Council has agreed to pay a $150,000 settlement to a witness who attempted to intervene in the murder of George Floyd and claims he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result.
Donald Williams, a mixed martial arts fighter who testified against former officer Derek Chauvin in his 2021 murder trial, sued the city last spring, alleging that he was assaulted by police while trying to prevent Floyd’s death on September 25. May 2020.
The council unanimously approved the agreement without discussion, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported.
The lawsuit alleges that Chauvin looked directly at Williams, grabbed a chemical spray canister and began waving it at him and other bystanders expressing concern for Floyd’s well-being.
In video played at Chauvin’s trial, Williams can be heard urging Chauvin to leave Floyd and denouncing the officer as a “bum.”
The Minneapolis City Council approved a $150,000 settlement for Donald Williams, pictured, a witness who tried to stop the killing of George Floyd and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Floyd was killed by Chauvin after being arrested in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill.
Protesters held portraits of George Floyd and signs calling for “justice for George” outside the trial of police officer Derek Chauvin.
Paul, a volunteer, cleans ‘George Floyd Square’, the place where George Floyd died in police custody in May 2020
Floyd’s death sparked protests around the world and forced a national reckoning against police brutality and racism. Many murals were also painted in tribute.
Former officer Tou Thao then approached Williams and put his hand on his chest, according to the lawsuit.
Williams told jurors at Chauvin’s trial that the officer performed what MMA fighters call a “blood choke” on Floyd, restricting his circulation.
“The officer on top was moving to apply the final chokehold while he was on top, the fatal chokehold,” Williams told Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank during direct examination at Chauvin’s trial.
Williams said he had seen Floyd “disappear like a fish in a bag.”
He said, ‘You see his eyes slowly pale and he knew… he vocalized it, his eyes rolled back in his head, you saw the blood coming out of his nose, he said his stomach hurt and from then on. he was lifeless. He didn’t speak.
Drawing on his experience, Williams said what he witnessed was a “deadly chokehold,” which cut off Floyd’s circulation to his neck.
As a result of the officers’ actions, Williams alleged in his lawsuit, he feared for his safety and endured pain, suffering, humiliation, embarrassment and medical expenses as a result of witnessing the incident.
In April 2021, Chauvin was found guilty of Floyd’s murder and is serving a 22 and a half year prison sentence in Minnesota.
A makeshift memorial for Floyd at the site of his fatal arrest in May 2020
Floyd, who was Black, died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, knelt on his neck for nine and a half minutes outside a convenience store where Floyd had tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. .
A bystander’s video captured Floyd’s fading screams of “I can’t breathe.”
Floyd’s death sparked protests around the world and forced a national reckoning against police brutality and racism.
Chauvin was convicted of state murder charges in Floyd’s death and sentenced to 22 and a half years.
He also pleaded guilty to a separate federal charge of violating Floyd’s civil rights.
Thao and two other former officers involved are serving shorter sentences.
