AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin City Council unanimously approved $425,000 to settle with a woman who was violently arrested by Austin police officers in 2015.
Breaion King’s arrest was captured on dash camera, and showed her being slammed to the ground. King filed several lawsuits against the city and Officer Brian Richter. In October 2016, a U.S. district judge dismissed the lawsuit against the city, but King refiled it.
King’s attorney issued a statement stating King is “grateful to be able to put her legal battle behind her, but she knows she still has work to do.” She still wants “racist mentality” to be addressed and eliminated by the Austin Police Department.
Last week, council member Greg Casar wrote in a statement that “This settlement with Ms. King, as well as a formal apology, are the very least the City can do.”
A Travis County grand jury did not indict Richter for use of force, but he was fired in January for lying about using force in another case last year.
Regarding Richter’s firing, King says while she is “glad’ he’s off the streets, she is “disappointed that it took someone else getting hurt by him for his termination to transpire.”
Her attorney statement states King will “continue to be an advocate for social justice and an elementary school teacher, two things for which she has a great passion.”