A Maryland county has reached a $20 million settlement with the family of an unarmed Black man who was fatally shot by a police corporal while he was handcuffed in a patrol car in January, officials said on Monday. The figure, announced on Sunday, makes it among the largest settlements in a case involving a killing by a police officer. “There is no appropriate price tag to accompany a loss like that one, but we believe the actions taken that night against Mr. Green and ultimately taken against his family warrant this settlement,” Angela D. Alsobrooks, the county executive of Prince George’s County, said at a news conference. Ms. Alsobrooks, a former prosecutor, noted that the police are “given by this community an awesome and tremendously difficult responsibility of protecting life.”“And when that trust is abused, it is necessary to take swift and decisive action,” she added. The corporal, Michael Owen Jr., a 10-year veteran of the Prince George’s Police Department, shot the man, William H. Green, 43, multiple times on Jan. 27, while Mr. Green’s hands were handcuffed behind his back and as he sat in the front seat of a parked police cruiser, officials said.

Source: New York Times September 28, 2020 20:21 UTC