Maryland county reaches $20 million settlement after police shooting of handcuffed man

Attorneys for Prince George’s County, Md., announced Monday that a settlement had been reached with the family of 43-year-old William Green, a Black man who was fatally shot while handcuffed in a police cruiser.

Monday’s announcement stems from Green’s death in late January, after which a Prince George’s County police officer, Cpl. Michael A. Owen Jr., was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. Owen, who is also Black, was fired from the department the day after the shooting.

The $20 million settlement was announced by Angela Alsobrooks (D), the county executive for Prince George’s County, told Tat a press conference Monday morning.

“I am deeply sorry for your loss,” Alsobrooks told Green’s mother at Monday’s news conference. 

“[The authority to take life] is given to the police by this community. It is a trusting relationship shared by the community and police,” she added. “And when that trust is abused, it is necessary to take swift and decisive action.”

An attorney for Green’s family told The Washington Post in a statement that the historic size of the settlement, one of the largest in the history of court cases surrounding Black men killed by police, was a sign of progress.

“I agree with County Executive Alsobrooks that this historic settlement shows that the Black life of William Green and the Black lives of his grieving mother, son and daughter truly matter,” Murphy said Monday. “Black lives matter.”