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The city of Minneapolis agreed Friday to pay $ 20 million to the family of an unarmed woman who was killed by a police officer while she was approaching her car after that. he answered him at the call 911 call.
The announcement of the bylaw, made by the Mayor and members of the City Council, comes just three days after Mohamed Noor, a Black, Somali and Muslim, became the first Minnesota police officer to be recognized. guilty of murder committed in the performance of his duties.
A jury found him guilty Tuesday in the fatal murder of Justine Ruszczyk, a 40-year-old yoga and meditation teacher. Mrs. Ruszczyk, who was white, called 911 in July 2017 to report that she had heard a woman being attacked. After arriving in his neighborhood, Mr. Noor fired at his car when she approached, killing her.
During the trial month, his lawyers claimed that Mr. Noor, who was later fired by the police, fired a gun to protect his terrified partner after hearing a thud and seeing a person close to him. the window of the driver raising his arm.
The jurors declared Mr. Noor guilty of third degree murder, punishable by up to 25 years imprisonment and second degree manslaughter, up to ten years. from prison. According to Minnesota's sentencing guidelines, he is likely to face several years in prison but far less than the maximum.
Her family sued for more than $ 50 million from Minneapolis, claiming Ruszczyk's civil rights had been violated.
"It's not a win for anyone, but a way for our city to progress," said city mayor Jacob Frey when he announced the settlement. Mr. Frey said that Mr. Noor's conviction and inability to identify a threat before resorting to lethal force had prompted the city to move quickly.
Robert Bennett, a Minneapolis lawyer who represented Ms. Ruszczyk's family in negotiations, said at a press conference that the colony "is an indisputable message to change the Minneapolis Police Department so as to help all of its communities." The family agreed to donate $ 2 million from the colony to an armed violence prevention program in the city. .
The experts thought the settlement was necessary for the city. "A jury could give $ 100 million, so they wanted to avoid that," said Walter Signorelli, a lawyer who represents clients suing the police, who is also a former deputy inspector of the New City Police Department. York.
But advocates of social justice, who have already noted what they see as the troubling racial dimensions of the case, said that the exceptionally bulky regulation still illuminates the difference between white victims and black victims of police violence.
[Ensavoirplussur[Readmoreabout[Ensavoirplussur[Readmoreaboutreactions to the Noor verdict and its racial components.]
"The fact that it is the largest known case of settlement for police abuse by the history of Minneapolis and that it is in the name of a wealthy white woman reinforces the fact that there are two systems, "said Nekima Levy Armstrong, a lawyer specializing in the defense of civil rights. activist in Minneapolis. "There are many people of color who have not received a penny from the city after one of their family was shot by the police."
Ms. Levy Armstrong said the heads of government were sending the message that a white life is more precious than a black life. She mentioned the $ 3 million settlement for the family of Philando Castile, a black man who was fatally wounded by a police officer in a suburb of St. Paul during a traffic stop in 2016, as a prime example of this injustice. (The officer in this case was Latino, he was acquitted of manslaughter charges but left the police department.)
Chicago paid two of the largest previous settlements in police shootings: $ 16 million for Bettie R. Jones's family in 2018 and a $ 18 million settlement with the LaTanya Haggerty family in 1999. This last would have been the highest settlement. in a fatal police shooting until Friday. These two victims were African-Americans.
But all over the country, the vast majority of families who lose somebody during a questionable police shootout receive nothing, experts said, and many cases are filed before the trial. Last year, a Florida jury awarded $ 4 to the family of a man who was killed when police opened fire through the door of his closed garage as a result of a fire. a dispute in which he was suspected of possessing a firearm.
Another expert said that the attention given to the Noor case and the important agreement reflected the extent to which shootings by the police had become important to the public.
"It's a good move for cities and it shows that it's really important to hire, train and train police to avoid such situations in the future," said Chuck Wexler, Executive Director of the Police. Executive Research Forum, a law enforcement agency. non-profit politics.
Wexler said that since the murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, the large police departments with which he works have been working consistently to interact with communities, especially the most diverse.
"It's tragic on many levels," he said. "First of all, the woman who dies. But also for the Minneapolis Police Department, which contacted the large Somali population, identified candidates, placed them in the police academy and put them in uniform. "
There was already so much fear in this community, he said, "You can do everything right, then you can have an incident that really delays you."
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