Police Mistook an HBCU Football Player for a Killer and the Fallout Could Cost San Jose Millions
A former HBCU football player who was shot by a San Jose police officer after being incorrectly linked to a homicide is now set to receive an $8 million settlement.
First reported by KTVU, the payout is expected to be approved on Jan. 13, 2026, by the San Jose City Council to prevent the case from going to trial. If the case were to go to trial, a larger judgment could potentially be distributed. The settlement payout was first decided as part of a conference that began in November.
As part of the settlement agreement, the court decided to dismiss the excessive force lawsuit brought by the student, K’aun Green. In 2022, the then-19-year-old was shot by police officers at La Victoria Taqueria, a restaurant near the San Jose State University campus where he was a student.
The police had mistakenly identified Green as a homicide suspect. According to documents and video footage presented at the courts, however, the student had intervened in a fight at the taqueria. After wrangling a weapon from another person, Green promptly left the scene with the gun. He was then shot in the stomach, arm and knee by the then-San Jose Police Officer Mark McNamara. No permanent injuries were sustained.
Following the shooting, San Jose police admitted that the taqueria incident had no correlation with the nearby homicide. McNamara also resigned from his position after investigators discovered racist text messages. Some of those text messages explicitly mentioned Green.
“The number is reflective of the harm K’aun suffered, but also the egregiousness of this particular police officer,” said civil rights attorney Adante Pointer per KUTV. “This is a young man that deserves every penny that San Jose is finally coughing up.”
In the past, San Jose has been highlighted for the number of violent interactions with the police. According to the Marshall Project, from 2017 to 2020, around 1,300 people went to the emergency room after an encounter with the San Jose police.
Approximately 60% of cases involved control holds, 20% stun guns, and 10% impact weapons such as batons. Out of the 1,300 people, 72 people were left with serious injuries. Nine of whom died from gunshot wounds.
With the latest news, the settlement proposed for Green is set to be the second-largest payout for someone injured by the police in the history of San Jose. In 2014, the city gave $11.3 million to Hung Lam, who became paralyzed from the waist down after police shot at him.
The city of San Jose, however, has not yet issued an apology to Green. Since the shooting, the now-24-year-old received a full scholarship to the University of Arkansas, putting him on the path of becoming the first college graduate in his family.