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A $1.25 million payout has been proposed to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of Dexter Reed, a Black man who was killed by Chicago police during a traffic stop last year, per CBS News.
In March 2024, Reed, 26, was pulled over by five officers in plain clothes. The officers, who allegedly didn't identify themselves or inform Reed why he was being detained, forced him to get out of his vehicle at gunpoint.
Police said Reed responded by firing a single shot, wounding one of the officers. The officers then fired 96 shots at Reed within less than a minute, killing him after he had stepped out of the car with both hands in the air.
Officers initially said they pulled Reed over after noticing he wasn't wearing a seat belt. However, it's unclear how they would've seen inside of Reed's car due to his tinted windows.
In a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, city attorneys later claimed that "officers lawfully stopped Dexter Reed for driving a vehicle with dark tinted windows."
Reed's family filed the lawsuit alleging that the officers targeted her son unlawfully and as a result of traffic stop quotas imposed by the police department.
"Officers had no reasonable suspicion that Dexter violated any law, and they falsely stated otherwise in official CPD reports," the lawsuit states.
In a letter to Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling, Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten also raised serious concerns about the validity of the traffic stop that led to the officers' encounter" with Reed.
Reed's family is calling for the officers involved to face charges. The four officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative duty amid an investigation into the incident.
A $1.25 million payout to settle the lawsuit is up for a vote by the City Council Finance Committee on Monday (February 10).
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