SIGNAL HILL, Calif., June 16, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Ron Settles would have turned 62 on June 12. But he was killed in the jail of the Signal Hill Police Department shortly before his 22nd birthday in 1981, playing out a tragic scenario all too familiar to Black families today whose loved ones die from police violence.
This Saturday, June 12, 2021, at 1 p.m. PST, 4 p.m. EST, his family will release a video of the commemorative program, "40th Anniversary: Ron Settles Day of Remembrance" on YouTube Live. The video depicts Ron's family and his community celebrating his life and finding peace in healing.
Through widespread demonstrations, a high-profile court case and an eventual $1 million out-of-court settlement with the Signal Hill Police Department, the truth of how Ron died eventually emerged. But in the early 1980s, absent the cell phone and body camera video footage that illuminated the tragic deaths of George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Daunte Wright, Anthony Brown, Jr., and Philando Castile, among others, victims and their families were often at the mercy of police and their word.
Despite the best efforts of renowned civil rights attorney Stephen Yagman and former prosecutor-turned civil rights attorney, the late Johnny L. Cochran, Jr., no one was prosecuted in connection with Ron's murder.
The death of Reginald Ronnell "Ron" Settles and the subsequent public fight for justice became the highest profile case of its kind at the time, attracting TV attention and frequent news reports as Cochran took the unprecedented step of exhuming Ron's body to disprove police accounts that he hung himself to death. In fact, the coroner's inquest showed that Ron died not of suicide but that he was "killed by the hands of another." Furthermore, it was determined that Ron was severely beaten during his final hours while in the custody of the Signal Hill Police.
Ron grew up in the suburb of Carson where the diverse middle-class neighborhood reflected much of Southern California at the time. Ron was a popular young man who had been a star running back at Banning High School in Wilmington and was an accomplished scholar and athlete at Cal State University Long Beach, with a promising NFL career awaiting him.
But Signal Hill was an enclave of people who were not welcoming to people of color. It was a place Black and Brown people were warned to steer clear of. On June 2, 1981, Ron made the fatal mistake of taking a short cut and driving his new sports car – a gift from his parents for his achievements – through Signal Hill on his way to work as a student teacher and junior high school coach. Signal Hill police arrested Ron, and hours later he was found dead in their custody, reportedly hanging in a holding cell in the police station.
Four decades later, the Signal Hill Police station where Ron died is now the Signal Hill Public Library, and the city has changed significantly. The mayor is Black and the city is no longer a place people of color fear. In fact, city officials cooperated with the Ron Settles Memorial Dedication Committee to designate June 2 as a "Day of Remembrance for Ron Settles." The City also availed the Signal Hill Park Community Center for the commemorative program hosted on June 5.
The video captures the program in which people from the communities of Carson, Long Beach and Signal Hill joined with his family to celebrate his life, and a to celebrate change and hope.
One of the primary highlights that arose from the family's collective sorrow is the Ron Settles Memorial Foundation which was established by his first cousins to provide college scholarships for deserving students in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Memphis, TN.
Juanita Strong Matthews, Ron's aunt and one of the event organizers, emphasized that the day's events were far from a rally, but a reconciliation.
"We chose to turn our pain into purpose, tragedy into triumph by paying forward something positive for the community and for the nation," Juanita said. "It's template for other cities and other families."
When: Saturday, July 12, 2021, 1 p.m. PST
Where: Log on to YouTube at https://youtu.be/4Wcjduz2t4E
Media Contact
Ana Paula Duarte, Griffin and Strong, P.C., +1 (678) 364-2962 Ext: 111, [email protected]
SOURCE Griffin and Strong, P.C.
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