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Evanston, Illinois, becomes first city in U.S. to approve reparations for Black residents

23 March 2021
Dan Ackermann

The City of Evanston, Illinois, on Monday night approved a plan to distribute $10 million in reparations to Black residents for housing and mortgage assistance.

Why it matters: The city of 73,000 people, 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, is the first in the country to pass such a measure.

By the numbers: The measure passed 8-1, per WNUR News.

The big picture: The City will pay for the reparations via revenue raised from tax on cannabis, per council information.

  • People who've lived in Evanston between 1919 and 1969, their descendants or those who can show that they faced discrimination over housing policy would eligible under the measure.

What they're saying: Alderman Robin Rue Simmons, who was behind the measure, told the New York Times the action was "a start."

  • “It is the reckoning. We’re really proud as a city to be leading the nation toward repair and justice.”

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.