Last July, Samuel DuBose was fatally shot by a white University of Cincinnati police officer during a routine traffic stop. DuBose was unarmed and, according to evidence from a body camera, did not behave aggressively or threaten anyone’s safety. The now-former officer, Ray Tensing, awaits trial for murder, and the University of Cincinnati is paying DuBose’s family $4.85 million.
According to the New York Times, the school “has agreed to pay $4.85 million…a settlement that also requires the college to provide an undergraduate education to his 12 children, create a memorial to him on campus, and include his family in discussions on police reform.”
The terms of the settlement do not stipulate that the University of Cincinnati claim liability for the shooting. But “the agreement…includes a promise that the university president, Santa J. Ono, will apologize to the DuBose family.
Ono explained the agreement to the Times:
“I wanted to take care of the family and the next generation of the family…And I wanted it to be absolutely clear that the University of Cincinnati cares not only about this family, but also about peace within the city of Cincinnati.”
But DuBose’s death is not an isolated incident where the University of Cincinnati police are concerned. Two other black men have died in encounters with the university force’s officers. As the Times reports, “Kelly Brinson, 45, a psychiatric patient, and Everette Howard, 18, a student, died in 2010 and 2011 after campus officers fired Taser stun guns at them, according to lawsuits by their families.” Howard, too, has a memorial on the school grounds.
The announcement of the settlement was timed to coincide with Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. DuBose’s family is happy with the settlement, though, according to the Times, his 18-year-old daughter Raegan Brooks struggled in the midst of the negotiations.
“At times I wanted to walk out because I felt like they were putting a price on my father’s life,” she said.
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Image via AP.
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