Cup Foods sues Minneapolis, Mayor Frey over loss of business at George Floyd Square

MINNEAPOLIS — The owners of Cup Foods, the business where George Floyd was accused of using a counterfeit bill minutes before his murder by a now-former Minneapolis police officer, are among the plaintiffs suing the city over what they allege is a loss of business due to concrete barriers and crime they say have turned away customers.

The lawsuit, which cites the City of Minneapolis and Mayor Jacob Frey as defendants, claims the area of East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue — now called George Floyd Square — has turned into a “hub for violent crime.”

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Area business owners say they “have suffered tremendous economic hardships as well as threats and actual harm to the physical well-being of its owners and tenants.”

The plaintiffs are seeking $1.5 million in damages.

Georgio Wright and Cedric Steele, who co-own the restaurant Just Turkey down the block from Cup Foods, told WCCO in May their business has suffered from the intersection’s transformation, and the lack of assistance from Minneapolis police, which led residents to police the area themselves.

“For us and all the businesses over here it was hard for us to conduct business because the customers couldn’t drive in food delivery trucks couldn’t drive out food in,” Steele said.

It is not clear if Wright and Steele are involved in the lawsuit.

A spokesperson for Mayor Frey told WCCO they are aware of the lawsuit and provided this statement: “We did everything possible to open the street safely amid very tenuous circumstances. When we finally did open the street, the City did so in a planned way where no one was hurt and the area remained safe for residents.”

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Floyd was killed by former officer Derek Chauvin on May 25, 2020, sparking riots and unrest across the United States on a scale that hadn’t been seen in decades.

Chauvin was convicted of murder last year and sentenced to 22 years in federal prison. Three other former officers — Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao — are also serving federal sentences for their involvement.

Chauvin was stabbed in an Arizona federal prison last week, and remains in stable condition as of Wednesday.