From Staff Reports 

The City of Asheville reached a settlement on Aug. 3 in the beating case of unarmed black pedestrian Johnnie Rush.

Specifically, Asheville will pay a total of $650,000 to Rush and his attorneys, according to the settlement and release statement.

Of that sum, Rush will receive $342,500, which will be distributed to him in periodic payments.

The remainder, $307,500, will be paid to his attorneys, Ferguson, Chambers & Sumter, P.A.

In a highly publicized encounter with Asheville police, Rush was beaten, shocked and choked in an incident that occurred nearly a year ago.

Officer body camera video of the beating became news across the United States.

In the Asheville area, the beating raised tensions between black residents and police and wreaked havocl in city government, resulting in the ouster of its city manager, Gary Jackson, on March 20.

Rush’s attorney, prominent civil rights lawyer James Ferguson, told the Asheville Citizen Times in an email on Aug. 3 that he was pleased the parties were able to resolve the case without “a costly, contentious trial that would have the potential of further dividing a community that is already too racially divided.”