TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Officials in the city of Tacoma, Washington, will pay $3.1 million to the family of a Black man who was fatally shot by police during a traffic stop in 2019.
The City Council announced Tuesday’s settlement with the relatives of 24-year-old Bennie Branch in a news release.
“This family’s loss has been felt deeply across our entire community – specifically amongst Tacoma’s African American community,” the statement said, adding that the settlement was “not an admission of legal liability,” but rather a way for both sides to avoid an expensive trial.
Branch was in a car with other people on Sept. 8, 2019, when a patrol officer spotted the vehicle idling and pointed in the wrong direction. The officer approached the driver after recognizing the vehicle as one associated with previous gun-related crimes, police said.
Branch left the car and got into his mom’s, which was nearby, police said. The officer notified dispatch about Branch’s actions and told them Branch might be armed.
When officer Ryan Bradley and his partner responded to the scene, they ordered Branch to get out of the car. Police said officers heard a woman shrieking in the car and thought it might have been a carjacking. Police said Bradley’s partner tried to pull Branch out, but he tried to escape. Police said they shocked Branch twice with stun guns and he fell to the ground.
Bradley’s partner then hit Branch in the head and chest multiple times, police said. They said the officer then called out that Branch was going for a gun and moved away. Bradley fired at Branch 11 times, hitting him seven times.
A county prosecutor said Bradley acted lawfully and that the BB gun Branch had on him resembled a handgun.
The city said in its statement that it supports the Tacoma Police Department’s ongoing efforts to build community trust through measures that include updating their use of force policy, requiring officers to activate body cameras whenever they engage with the public, and the development of a community service officer program.
Memorial Day has a deep historical connection to the African American community in the United States.
The holiday, which originated as Decoration Day, initially began when formerly enslaved individuals and their descendants gathered to honor and decorate the graves of Union soldiers who fought during the Civil War.
“Oddly, that’s a fact that I wasn’t fully aware of,” former U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young told the Black Press.
“It’s not surprising, though,” said Young, an American civil rights leader and hero.
Indeed, on a day when picnics, family outings, and other leisurely pursuits occur, the founders of Memorial Day meant for the occasion to honor African Americans newly freed from enslavement, and those who lost their lives fighting for freedom, said actor Wendell Pierce.
“We will never forget those brave and honorable souls,” Pierce stated.
Famous DJ Donnie Simpson called the occasion “very different for me.”
“While we honor those who gave their lives in service for this country, I can’t help but think of those African Americans who were massacred in Tulsa 100 years ago,” Simpson wrote on Twitter.
Author Christina Coles deadpanned, “The Civil War was over, and African Americans had founded Memorial Day in a ritual of remembrance and consecration. They were the true patriots.”
Ben Gold, a historian and founder of the real estate investment firm Recommended Homebuyers, said recognizing Black soldiers,’ and their families’ sacrifices and bravery is essential because it acknowledges their often-overlooked role in shaping the nation’s history.
“Commemorating Memorial Day with Black heroes in mind serves several critical purposes. First and foremost, it ensures that their stories are included and preserved within the broader narrative of the holiday,” Gold insisted.
He said that by highlighting Black service members’ courage, resilience, and contributions, America pays homage to their sacrifices and honors their memory.
Moreover, Gold asserted that it fosters a sense of inclusivity, promotes diversity, and enriches our collective understanding of the complex tapestry of American history.
“In my experience as an investor and developer, I have witnessed firsthand the power of recognizing and celebrating diversity,” Gold said. “Just as the real estate industry thrives when it embraces inclusivity, so does our society when we acknowledge and appreciate the diverse perspectives and experiences of all those who have served our country.
“By featuring the stories of Black heroes in Memorial Day commemorations, we not only educate and inspire, but we also contribute to a more inclusive and united nation.”
Indeed, as noted in a Washington Informer editorial, the significance of African Americans in the holiday’s development and the numerous ideas regarding its origins may not be widely known.
Although the origins of Memorial Day trace back to the period following the Civil War, when some 620,000 soldiers lost their lives, the precise origins remain a source of controversy.
Several cities have staked claims to be the first to celebrate Memorial Day.
Still, a different narrative, perhaps more accurately, says that African Americans in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1865 were the true founders of the holiday.
Renowned historian David Blight, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and American history professor at Yale University recounted a poignant commemoration in Charleston on May 1, 1865.
Organized by formerly enslaved people and white missionaries, Blight determined that the event occurred at a former racecourse that had served as a Confederate prison for Union soldiers during the war’s final year.
At least 257 prisoners had perished there, primarily due to disease, and were buried in unmarked graves.
Eventually, two dozen African American residents of Charleston meticulously rearranged the graves into orderly rows.
They erected a three-meter-tall white fence around them, creating what they called the ‘Martyrs of the Racecourse’ memorial.
“After the Confederate evacuation of Charleston Black workmen went to the site, reburied the Union dead properly, and built a high fence around the cemetery,” Blight documented.
“They whitewashed the fence and built an archway over an entrance on which they inscribed the words, ‘Martyrs of the Racecourse.’”
He continued: “The symbolic power of this Low Country planter aristocracy’s bastion was not lost on the freed people, who then, in cooperation with white missionaries and teachers, staged a parade of 10,000 on the track.”
The gravesites were transformed into a breathtaking “sea of flowers,” as described by the New York Tribune, and the event was hailed as a procession of mourning and remembrance, unlike anything South Carolina or the United States had witnessed before.
Despite documented evidence about this event, the narrative of African Americans being the founders of Memorial Day essentially went untold.
“That’s the surprising part,” said Ambassador Young, a civil rights icon who also served as mayor of Atlanta from 1981 to 1990.
“It’s history I want to read and know more about, and everyone else should as well.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: The article was originally published on May 29, 2017
Memorial day is a day that is set aside to honor those who fought in for the United States Military. As many headed out to the beach or maybe a family barbeque enjoying the weather many might not be aware of the several different theories of how memorial day began.
On May 1 , 1865 , freed slaves came together in Charleston , S.C to pay tribute to the Union soldiers that had been deceased and put into a common burial after the war. There were 257 deceased Union soldiers , according to the American Oracle : The Civil War In the Civil Rights Era, a book written by David Blight a Yale University professor .
This event held over of 10,000 people in the ” slaveholders race course.” , according to the American Oracle by Blight. Black Charlestonians along with white missionaries and educators stood in honor of the Union soldiers .
Three thousand African American students led the event by singing ” John Brown’s Body” while holding arms loads of roses , according to Blight’s book the American Oracle. After the school children, hundred of African American woman followed with possessions of baskets of flowers, wreaths and crosses , according to the American Oracle Black men marched, followed by a group of “Union infantry” and a diversity of other black and white citizens , according to BlackBlueDog.com.
At the event other presentations proceeded from a childrens choir singing selections and black ministers presented scriptures. This event symbolized the blood , sweat and tears each one of the 257 Union soldiers shedded during the war. The 257 Union soldiers were not treated adequately when alive or decease.
“Union soldiers were kept in horrible conditions in the interior of the track; at least 257 died of exposure and disease and were hastily buried in a mass grave behind the grandstand,” according to the American Oracle the First Declaration Day, by Blight.
Hence , a legacy was left on May 1 , 1965 in celebrating for those Union soldiers who served the country well.
In generations to come , a part of history like this event reflects a time of African American history that will benefit the public eye.
“The war, they had boldly announced, had been all about the triumph of their emancipation over a slaveholders’ republic, and not about state rights, defense of home, nor merely soldiers’ valor and sacrifice, ” Blight said in his book the American Oracle.
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