(Reuters) – California has agreed to pay $24 million to the family of a man who lost consciousness and died after highway patrol officers pinned him to the ground while he screamed, “I can’t breathe,” a lawyer for the family said.
The settlement comes six weeks after seven California Highway Patrol Officers and a registered nurse were charged with involuntary manslaughter and assault for their involvement in the March 31, 2020, death of 38-year-old Edward Bronstein in Burbank, a Los Angeles suburb.
One of the family’s lawyers, Eric Dubin, confirmed the $24 million settlement in a Twitter post late on Tuesday night.
Dubin wrote that it is the largest civil rights settlement in state history and the second biggest in U.S. history behind the $27 million Minneapolis agreed to pay to the family of George Floyd.
The death of Bronstein, who was white, came less than two months before Floyd’s death. Floyd, a Black man, was pinned to the ground in Minneapolis by police officers as he pleaded, “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s agonized words became a rallying cry during protests against racism and police brutality across the nation and around the world in the summer of 2020.
In the California traffic stop, two of the officers who were charged had pulled Bronstein over on Interstate 5 for suspected driving under the influence.
Bronstein was then taken to a Highway Patrol parking lot where he initially refused to allow blood to be drawn from him. He finally complied after officers pushed him to the ground as he was handcuffed, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement announcing the charges.
Several officers are accused of pinning Bronstein down with their knees while his blood was being drawn. While pinned, Bronstein repeatedly screamed, “I can’t breathe,” and begged for help before becoming unresponsive, Gascón said.
Bronstein was kept face-down for about six more minutes. More than 13 minutes after his last screams, the officers attempted cardiopulmonary resucitation (CPR), but Bronstein never regained consciousness and was later pronounced dead, Gascón said.
According to the Los Angeles County medical examiner, Bronstein died of acute methamphetamine intoxication during restraint by law enforcement.
(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Chicago)
