Ray Tensing listens to a prosecutor's opening statement during a retrial in Cincinnati, June 8, 2017. (Cincinnati Enquirer via Associated Press)
A white police officer who was fired after he shot and killed an unarmed black motorist will receive more than $300,000 in back pay from the University of Cincinnati, the school said Thursday.
The university agreed to pay Ray Tensing, 28, more than $244,000 in back pay and benefits and $100,000 in legal fees, the school and the Fraternal Order of Police said.
The payment will settle a union grievance brought on his behalf following Tensing’s indictment on murder charges. The charges were dropped last year after two juries deadlocked.
The Fraternal Order of Police argued that Tensing shouldn’t have been fired before the case was resolved.
Protesters holds signs as they gather for a demonstration on the University of Cincinnati campus demanding that a white former police officer be tried a third time in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black motorist. (Associated Press)
"This case has caused a lot of strife in the community, and I believe the settlement will allow for healing to continue," Tensing said. "It certainly will do that for me after two difficult trials."
"This case has caused a lot of strife in the community, and I believe the settlement will allow for healing to continue. It certainly will do that for me after two difficult trials."
Tensing shot Sam DuBose, 43, in the head after pulling him over for a missing front license plate in 2015. Tensing testified that he believed his life was in danger when DuBose tried to drive off during the traffic stop.
“I’m very upset with UC paying that murderer Tensing,” DaShonda Reid, the mother of four of DuBose’s children, told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “He’s officially a paid assassin who has not shown one ounce of remorse for killing an innocent man.”
“I’m very upset with UC paying that murderer Tensing. He’s officially a paid assassin who has not shown one ounce of remorse for killing an innocent man.”
Reid said that the fact Tensing even wanted compensation shows “how soulless and callous he is.”
The University of Cincinnati previously reached a $5.3 million settlement with DuBose’s family, including free undergraduate tuition for his 13 children.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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