A California woman has reached a $17 million settlement with Solano County after being knocked unconscious during an arrest by sheriff’s deputies in 2020. Nakia Porter, a Black woman, became the center of attention following the incident that occurred while she was on a family trip with her children.
On August 6, 2020, Porter and her family, including her father Joe Powell and three young children, stopped to switch drivers during their journey home. As soon as they pulled off the road, two sheriff’s deputies showed up with flashing lights. Porter told the officers that they were simply switching drivers. Even with this clarifying guidance, the implementation became a rapid firestorm.
Body camera footage reveals the deputies drawing their weapons on Porter within seconds of stopping him. They then proceeded to extremely aggressively throw her down onto the concrete while they handcuffed her. The moment was captured as Porter can be heard on the recording stating, “For those that are listening, I am not resisting.” In a cruel twist, she passed out moments after deputies snapped the cuffs shut on her wrists.
Porter was knocked unconscious for about five minutes and woke up in the rear of a squad car. She was then arrested and detained overnight on suspicion of resisting arrest, but never charged with a crime. The senseless beating led many to worry about the use of excessive force and civil rights violations.
Porter went on to file a federal lawsuit against the Solano County Sheriff’s Office, claiming unlawful seizure, assault and excessive force. Her legal team contended that the deputies’ acts were a violation of numerous state and federal civil rights statutes. The settlement reached with the county reflects the serious nature of the allegations and the impact of the incident on Porter and her family.
Yasin Almadani, an attorney representing Porter, emphasized the broader implications of the case, stating, “What happened to Ms. Porter and her family should never happen in our society.”
The case shines a light on national conversations around police conduct, especially in encounters with minority communities. The $17 million settlement is a historic financial recognition of the continued harm resulting from this encounter.