THE Minneapolis Police Union boss who called George Floyd a violent criminal was accused of making racist comments and wearing a "White Power" badge in a 2007 lawsuit.

Bob Kroll, 54, was named – although was not a defendant – in a lawsuit that accused the Minneapolis Police Department of tolerating "racist and discriminatory remarks by its white police officers," the Daily Mail reported.

Kroll was accused of calling former US Congressman Keith Ellison – who is Black and a Muslim – a "terrorist."

The lawsuit alleged that Kroll "made discriminatory comments" to a homosexual aid to Mayor R.T. Rybak.

He was also accused of wearing "a motorcycle jacket with a 'White Power' badge sewn into it.

Lieutenant Donald Harris, Sergeant Charles Adams, Sergeant Dennis Hamilton, Lieutenant Lee Edwards, and then-Lieutenant Medaria Arradondo filed the complaint.

The lawsuit was brought against the city of Minneapolis, the police department, and Timothy Dolan, the then-chief of police.

The lawsuit alleged long standing racism within the police department as Kroll was named.

"Defendant Minneapolis has discriminated in favor of white persons and against African Americans in its hiring practices, its promotional practices, its training practices, its assignment practices, its disciplinary practices, its overtime compensation practices and in its treatment of African American officers in other rights, privileges and conditions of employment," the lawsuit said.

The suit alleged that while the discriminatory action was longstanding, the actions became "more severe, pervasive, systemic and institutionalized" when Dolan was appointed Chief of the Police.

In 2008, the suit was settled for $800,000 and promise of change, the Daily Mail reported.

The Minneapolis Police Department did not immediately respond to The Sun for comment.

The lawsuit emerged just a week after Kroll called Floyd a "violent criminal" and said officers should be able to use more force against protesters. He also called protests a "terrorist movement."

Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died after Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck during an arrest.

Protests have sparked across the nation as video emerged, showing Floyd as he lay on the ground in cuffs.

Floyd said "I can't breathe" multiple times – but for nearly nine minutes, Chauvin did not move his knee.

Kroll has faced backlash for his comments, and the hashtag "#Krollmustgo" has begun to trend, as people call for his resignation.

Minnesota AFL-CIO, which oversees a number of Unions, said that the Police Officers Federation "is not, nor has it ever been a member of the AFL-CIO," and made a statement calling for Kroll's resignation.

Ten other unions made similar statements.

Arradondo, now the Chief of the MPD, has announced the Minneapolis Police Department is set to withdraw from police union contract negotiations.

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