Poignant witness to George Floyd’s death seeks $30,000 for emotional distress

Charles McMillian delivered some of the most poignant testimony during former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s 2021 murder trial, breaking down into sobs as he relived watching George Floyd die on the street in his south Minneapolis neighborhood.

McMillian, 64, of Minneapolis filed a legal claim against the city for emotional distress, and on Monday, a Minneapolis City Council committee will consider paying him $30,000 in a settlement out of the city’s self-insurance fund.

Messages left with McMillian and the law firm representing him weren’t returned on Friday.

Earlier this year, the City Council approved a $150,000 settlement with Donald Williams, another eyewitness who alleged that he was assaulted by police while trying to intervene in Floyd’s arrest. The city has also shelled out nearly $50 million in police brutality claims in the aftermath of Floyd’s killing.

McMillian testified during Chauvin’s trial that he was driving near Cup Foods at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue when he saw Minneapolis police officers standing by Floyd’s SUV and stopped to see what was going on.

When the officers handcuffed Floyd, walked him across the street and pinned him to the ground after a struggle in the squad car, McMillian begged Floyd not to resist arrest, yelling “you can’t win!” and “get up and get in the car!” Floyd repeatedly said he couldn’t.

As video of the interaction played for jurors during the trial, with Floyd repeatedly saying he couldn’t breathe and calling out “mama,” McMillian broke down sobbing, dropping his head on the witness stand. He said he felt helpless and understood Floyd’s calls for “mama” because he lost his mother, too, four years prior.

The judge stopped the trial so McMillian could take a break and gather his composure in a hallway.

The jury found Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd’s neck for nearly 9 1⁄2 minutes, guilty of all charges. He’s serving a 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights and a 22½-year state sentence for second-degree murder.

In 2021, the Minnesota Reformer reported that McMillian’s son launched a $5,000 fundraiser to help McMillian visit his mother’s burial site in Mississippi and get therapy. McMillian told the Reformer he needed to start “seeing somebody” to deal with the trauma.

“My girlfriend said that that changed me,” he said then. “The first thing on my mind when I wake up is George Floyd.”