The city of Minneapolis will pay $20
million to the family of an unarmed woman fatally shot by a police
officer when she approached his squad car after calling 911 to report a
possible crime, city leaders announced Friday.
Mayor Jacob Frey
and City Council members detailed the settlement just three days after
a jury convicted Mohamed Noor of murder and manslaughter in the 2017
death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond. The dual citizen of the U.S. and
Australia had called 911 to summon officers to a possible rape in the
alley behind her house.
The settlement is believed to be the
largest stemming from police violence in the state of Minnesota, and
roughly four to five times as large as any settlement paid out in recent
years.
When asked whether race played a role in the swift
settlement or in its amount — Damond was white, Noor is Somali American —
Frey said this case stood out because of Noor's unprecedented
conviction for third-degree murder, as well as the officer's failure to
identify a threat before he used deadly force.
"This
is not a victory for anyone, but rather a way for our city to move
forward," he said. "I do believe that we will move forward together,
united in the shared belief that such a tragedy should never occur in
our city."
Noor and his partner were driving down the alley in a
police SUV when they say they were startled by a loud bang on the
vehicle. Noor testified that he fired to protect them from a perceived
threat, after he saw his partner's terrified reaction, and saw a woman
appear at the driver's side window, raising her right arm. Jurors took
about 11½ hours to reach a verdict after hearing three weeks of
testimony.
Damond's family had filed a lawsuit seeking more than $50 million, alleging that her civil rights were violated.
The
settlement, which will be paid by the city's self-insurance fund, calls
for Damond's family to donate $2 million to a local foundation's fund
aimed at addressing gun violence. City leaders commended the family for
addressing the broader issue of police violence, particularly affecting
communities of color.
An attorney for the family planned to make a statement on Friday afternoon.
The
death of Damond, 40, came a month before she was due to marry. Noor,
33, who had trained to become a police officer in a mid-career switch,
was fired after he was charged.
He is in custody awaiting
sentencing in June. Sentencing guidelines call for as many as 15 years
in prison on the murder charge, though judges can depart from the
guidelines.
Prosecutors criticized Noor for shooting without
seeing a weapon or Damond's hands. They also questioned whether the loud
bang was real. Neither Noor nor his partner, Matthew Harrity, mentioned
it to investigators at the scene, with Harrity first mentioning it
three days later in an interview with state investigators. Noor refused
to talk to investigators.
Damond's death angered and bewildered
citizens in the U.S. and Australia, and led to the forced resignation of
Minneapolis' police chief. It also led the department to change its
policy on body cameras.