K'aun Green, HBCU Football Player Shot By Police, To Receive $8M Settlement

K’aun Green, the college football player who was shot multiple times by a San Jose police officer in 2022, could soon get an $8 million settlement. The settlement, which could be approved by the city council in January, would mark the second-largest payout in San Jose’s history, according to The Grio.

Why did police shoot K’aun Green?

Green was shot by an officer on March 27, 2022, in front of La Victoria Taqueria, a San Jose restaurant. As police were responding to a call for a homicide, police officer Mark McNamara saw Green leaving the restaurant with a gun in his hand.

McNamara then fired four times, striking Green in the stomach, arm and knee. Green, who was 22 at the time, sustained major injuries, but he managed to survive since the bullets didn’t hit any of his bones or essential muscles.

Later on, the gun that was spotted in Green’s hands was actually taken from another man during a fight inside the restaurant. Green insisted he was trying to protect people from getting hurt.

“Sometimes you’re doing nothing more than being a good guy,” Adante Pointer, Green’s civil rights attorney, said, according to The Grio. “And you can still wind up being shot by a police officer, no matter what you do.”

K’aun Green will receive an $8 million settlement

McNamara’s attorneys said their client had “qualified immunity” when he shot Green, and the city is not responsible for the shooting. Pointer, however, said that Green deserves every penny of the $8 million settlement.

“The number is reflective of the harm K’aun suffered, but also the egregiousness of this particular police officer,” Pointer said, according to KTVU. “This is a young man that deserves every penny that San Jose is finally coughing up.”

KTVU reported that the city of San Jose refused to apologize to Green and declined to settle his federal lawsuit until now. In a memo to the council, the city attorney said the settlement must be approved by Jan. 13 to ensure that the case doesn’t go to trial.

McNamara was forced to resign after investigators found racist text messages in his phone. Meanwhile, Green is now attending the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff on a full scholarship.