The Minneapolis city council approved a $150,000 settlement to an eyewitness who tried to intervene to prevent George Floyd’s murder by police in the city almost four years ago and alleges he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result.
Donald Williams, 35, a mixed martial arts fighter who testified against Derek Chauvin in the former police officer’s 2021 murder trial, sued the city last spring, alleging he was assaulted by police while trying to prevent Floyd’s death on 25 May 2020.
The council unanimously approved the settlement without discussion on Thursday, the Star Tribune reported.
The lawsuit alleged that Chauvin looked directly at Williams, grabbed a canister of chemical spray and began shaking it toward him and other bystanders expressing concern for Floyd’s welfare. In video played at Chauvin’s trial, Williams can be heard urging Chauvin to get off Floyd, as the man was pinned down by the then officer, and denouncing the officer as a “bum”.
