K’aun Green, an incoming HBCU football player whose life was forever altered by a police shooting in California is now poised to receive a historic settlement
San Jose officials are expected to approve an $8 million settlement for K’aun Green, a football player who was shot four times by a San Jose police officer in March 2022. The payout would be the second-largest police settlement in city history. It comes after years of legal battles tied to an incident that prosecutors later acknowledged had nothing to do with the crime initially suspected.
Green was shot on the steps of La Victoria Taqueria after an officer wrongly assumed he was connected to a nearby homicide. Video evidence later showed that Green had actually disarmed another gunman inside the restaurant and was exiting the building with the confiscated weapon when he was shot. The bullets struck his stomach, arm, and knee, though he avoided life-threatening injuries.
“This is a young man that deserves every penny that San Jose is finally coughing up,” said civil rights attorney Adante Pointer, who described the officer’s conduct as egregious. The former officer later resigned after investigators uncovered racist text messages, some of which referenced Green. Several cases connected to the officer were also dismissed.
Despite those revelations, the city fought the lawsuit for years, arguing the officer had qualified immunity. The proposed settlement is intended to avoid a potentially larger judgment at trial.
HBCU bound
For the HBCU world, Green’s story also reflects perseverance beyond the courtroom. He later earned a full scholarship to University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, an HBCU, putting him on track to become the first college graduate in his family.
As debates around policing and accountability continue nationwide, Green’s case stands as a sobering reminder that even acts of courage can end in tragedy—and that justice, though delayed, still matters to the HBCU community and beyond.