California city to pay $11m to family of man killed by police in asphyxia case

Officers restrained Mario Gonzalez in a prone position as he struggled to breathe and blamed his death on drug use

A California city has agreed to pay $11m to the family of a man who was killed by police in 2021 when officers restrained him in a prone position for five minutes as he struggled to breathe.

The city of Alameda, just outside of San Francisco, announced on Thursday that it had settled the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the estate of Mario Gonzalez, a 26-year-old who was killed in a similar manner to George Floyd in a case that led to protests and national outrage. The city said it was paying $11m to Gonzalez's seven-year-old son and $350,000 to Gonzalez's mother.