Minneapolis reaches $150k settlement with eyewitness of George Floyd’s murder

The Minneapolis City Council on Thursday signed off on a $150,000 settlement with Donald Williams, an eyewitness to George Floyd's murder who says the experience caused him PTSD.

Williams, 35, filed a lawsuit against the city last spring, alleging that he was assaulted by police on the corner of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue while trying to intervene in Floyd's arrest.

He was outside Cup Foods corner store the evening of May 25, 2020, when he saw then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck for nearly 9 ½ minutes as Floyd begged for his life. Bystander video captured by teenager Darnella Frazier depicts Williams as among the most vocal observers, urging Chauvin to get off Floyd — who was by then unresponsive — and check his pulse.

Williams repeatedly called Chauvin "a bum" in a desperate attempt to make the veteran officer relent, he later testified before a jury.

Chauvin looked directly at Williams, grabbed a canister of chemical spray from his duty belt and began shaking it toward him and other bystanders expressing concern for Floyd's welfare, according to the lawsuit. He was so vocal that Officer Tou Thao stepped toward him and placed a hand on Williams' chest.

As a result of the since-convicted officers' actions, Williams said he feared for his safety and endured pain, suffering, humiliation, embarrassment and medical expenses.

The Council unanimously approved the settlement without discussion.

Williams' attorney, Jeff Storms, could not be immediately reached for comment. Storms has helped secure hefty financial settlements for Floyd's family and other high-profile victims of deadly police encounters.

It marks the latest in a series of costly payouts amid a period of heightened scrutiny as Minneapolis enters into consent decree negotiations with the Justice Department over a pattern of discriminatory policing. The city has shelled out nearly $50 million in police brutality claims in the aftermath of Floyd's killing.

Williams, a mixed-martial arts fighter, was a key witness in Chauvin's 2021 murder trial, explaining how Chauvin executed a "blood choke" on Floyd, a move restricting his circulation. "I called the police on the police," he testified. When asked why, he said: "Because I believe I witnessed a murder."

Chauvin is serving a 20-year prison sentence for violating Floyd's civil rights and killing him. The other officers involved — Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane — are serving concurrent sentences ranging from 2 ½ to nearly 5 years for violating Floyd's civil rights and aiding and abetting manslaughter. Lane, 41, completed his federal sentence last week and will remain housed at the low-security federal lockup in Littleton, Colo., until his state sentence ends on Aug. 20.

In the aftermath of the trial, Williams told the Star Tribune that he struggled to process the trauma associated with being a bystander in the most famous case of American police brutality in modern times.

"I look to my left, I see George Floyd," he said in 2021. "I look to my right, I see George Floyd. I look somewhere else and it's like I'm always remembering."

Since then, he has had several run-ins with the law himself. Most appear to stem from sudden outbursts of anger that escalated to violence.

Last May, he was charged in Olmsted County with three counts of misdemeanor assault and one count of disorderly conduct. Five months later, he was charged in Hennepin County with disorderly conduct and property damage. In that case, he's accused of punching through the window of a school door in Eden Prairie. Charges say that staff heard Williams make comments about choking people out because school policy prohibited him from entering the building, requiring him to wait outside until his child was released.

He was convicted of violating a domestic abuse no contact order in 2023. Prior felony charges accusing him of choking his girlfriend outside the Minnesota State Fair and threatening responding officers were ultimately dismissed.

Star Tribune staff writer Kim Hyatt contributed to this report.