Austin Approves $425K Settlement For Teacher's Violent Arrest

AUSTIN, TX — Austin City council members on Thursday unanimously authorized a $425,000 settlement payment to an African-American schoolteacher who was violently arrested during a routine traffic stop — a detention caught on video that sparked outrage in the community and across the country.

Video emerged in 2016 showing the arrest of schoolteacher Breaion King in what began as a traffic stop for speeding, showing officer Bryan Richter throwing her twice to the ground in violent fashion after pulling her over. Seemingly frustrated King wasn't exiting her car fast enough, the officer involved is shown on the video pulling her out of her vehicle while using a stun gun to subdue her.

As she later sought explanation for the violent arrest while being transported while handcuffed to jail, video footage from inside the patrol car captured audio of a second officer explaining that police are especially wary of black people given perceived "violent tendencies."

King subsequently sued the city amid growing outrage over the video footage, which led to Thursday's settlement agreement. The officer who made the arrest was subsequently reprimanded but then fired after another incident during which he stepped on a suspect's head during a later arrest.

King's case had been set for an August trial, but the settlement effectively cancels that hearing.

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"This was not our city at its best," Austin Mayor Steve Adler said before the settlement was approved unanimously (minus Ellen Troxclair, who was absent). Adler noted the latest financial settlement stemming from police overreach suggests the King case was hardly isolated, but part of an institutional issue in Austin. "Any kind of settlement doesn't fix things," the mayor added, "but I think it's a recognition from the city we need to do better."

He and council member Ora Houston urged Interim Police Chief Brian Manley — whose pursuing the top cop job permanently after predecessor Art Acevedo accepted the chief's job in Houston — to have a meeting with King to discuss the matter in exploring ways to prevent such incidents in the future. "This was more than just an isolated incident in our city," Adler said.

Council member Pio Renteria noted the toll such incidents have had on the community, not just financially but in terms of the erosion of trust in law enforcement among many members of the public.

"This is becoming very frustrating to have these kinds of issues coming before us," Renteria, a lifelong Austinite, said. "I grew up in Austin, and we've been facing these types of issues over and over again. We really need to fix this problem; I'm addressing this to all the officers. The public is really getting fed up with it."

Renteria urged a community-wide effort to curb police overreach: "We really need to get together and work really hard to work with the public," the councilman said. "I want to create community policing and have people love their police officers. But we're having a really tough time right now. Its costing us a lot not just in money but in the respect you should have. Let's all work together and treat everyone with respect."

Last year, council members approved approved a $3.25 million settlement — the biggest in city history — with the family of David Joseph, a 17-year-old unarmed teen who was shot dead by a since-fired Austin policeofficer during an encounter when the distressed teenager was running naked through a neighborhood last year. Like King, that victim also was African-American. Like the cop who roughed up King, the officer who shot the teenager also was fired.

Below is video of the violent arrest that led to Thursday's approval of the financial settlement to the schoolteacher: