8 Minority Jail Officers Settle Suit Over Guarding Chauvin

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Eight minority corrections officers who were working at the jail where a former Minneapolis police officer was awaiting trial in the death of George Floyd have been awarded nearly $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit.

The officers filed the racial discrimination complaint after a Ramsey County Jail superintendent barred officers of color from entering the floor where Derek Chauvin was being held. The settlement also calls for the county to apologize in a written statement and acknowledge that order was discriminatory and wrong.

Floyd died in May 2020 after Chauvin, who is white, used his knee to pin down the handcuffed Black man’s neck even after Floyd stopped moving and pleading for air. The incident led to worldwide protests and violent demonstrations in Minnesota and elsewhere.