K’aun Greenan HBCU football player can buy multi-million dollar settlement After being shot by San Jose police after neutralizing a gunman at a California restaurant.
According to the San Jose Mercury News, the recommended payment of $8 million will resolve Green’s federal civil rights lawsuit and remain one of the largest police misconduct settlements in San Jose history.
Green, now a junior in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, was 20 years old when he became involved in a late-night altercation at La Victoria Taqueria in downtown San Jose in March 2022 when a fight broke out and a “ghost gun” was pulled.
Surveillance evidence, described in court records, shows Green grabbed the gun and walked toward the exit, gun in hand, when an officer opened fire outside the restaurant, hitting him in the arm, abdomen and leg, the newspaper said.
Authorities later acknowledged that the taqueria incident was unrelated to the homicide investigation that officers had on high alert that night, quashing initial claims that Green was matched with a homicide suspect.
The case escalated when internal records revealed that the officer who shot Green had exchanged racist text messages, including one targeting Green and his legal team, which led to his resignation from the force, according to the report.
In the years following the shooting, Green underwent multiple surgeries and lengthy rehabilitation while reporting ongoing pain, psychological trauma and fear that his football career would be permanently derailed.
Despite these setbacks, he earned a scholarship to play football at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, an HBCU where he would continue to pursue both his education and his athletic ambitions.
San Jose officials, who had previously argued that the officer’s actions were protected by qualified immunity and that the city had no liability, reversed course as the case neared trial and legal exposure.
The City Council is expected to vote on official approval of the settlement at an upcoming public session, after which funds will be paid from the city’s insurance and liability reserves.
