Texas mother who sued the city of Fort Worth over violent 2016 arrest by police officer awarded $150,000 after lengthy legal battle
Fort Worth, Texas, agreed to pay $150,000 to Jacqueline Craig after she was arrested in 2016 after they called the police on her white neighbor, who she said choked her son for littering.
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- Jacqueline Craig was violently arrested in 2016 after she called the police on their neighbor NBC Dallas reports.
- In the viral video, Craig told the officer her neighbor choked her son for littering.
- The officer responded, "why not?" and became physical when Craig's daughter stepped in, according to the video.
City officials in Fort Worth, Texas on Friday reached a settlement with a Black resident after a lengthy legal battle stemming from a violent 2016 arrest in which a white officer wrestled her and her daughter to the ground.
The woman, Jacqueline Craig, was awarded $150,000, NBC News reported. However, it must get the approval of the city council in October.
The video of Jacqueline Craig's arrest went viral in 2016 that showed her and her daughter being wrestled down by a white police officer, William Martin, while he pointed a taser at another Black bystander, NBC Dallas reported.
In the video, Craig told the officer that her neighbor grabbed her son, who was 7 years old at the time, by the neck and choked him for littering, and refused to pick up the paper after her neighbor ordered him to.
"Why don't you teach your son not to litter?" the officer responded, according to the video.
Craig told the officer that her neighbor could not prove that her son littered, and that was beside the point.
"It doesn't matter if he did or didn't, it doesn't give him the right to put his hands on him," Craig said in the video.
To which Martin responded, "Why not?"
NBC 5 Dallas confirmed that in the video, Craig's at the time 15-year-old daughter stepped in to intervene, to which the officer grabbed her and her mother and wrestles her to the ground while pointing a taser at another bystander.
According to the local outlet, the officer also arrested Brea Hymond, Craig's 19-year-old daughter, who recorded the incident.
"I'm very distraught because what I felt I was doing was actually protecting my child, and it didn't happen," Craig told the outlet. "It made me feel less of a parent because I couldn't protect him when he needed it."
According to NBC News, Craig was charged with resisting arrest and having outstanding traffic warrants, and her daughter was charged with resisting arrest and interfering with public duty.
The charges were later dropped, according to NBC.
According to the outlet, the officer served a 10-day suspension for violating departmental policies.
"Reaching a settlement with Ms. Craig was the right decision in this case to provide closure for the Craig family and our community," Mayor Mattie Parker said in a statement obtained by NBC. "As a city, we will remain committed to fostering greater communication and understanding and continuing the progress we've made in addressing the needs of Fort Worth."