Bay Area Store Owners Reach $150k Settlement With Town After They Were Racially Profiled By Police
Almost two years after Yema Khalif and his wife Hawi Awash reported an incident of racial profiling by police while working inside their own Bay-Area store, the couple have reached a settlement with the town of Tiburon.
According to KGO, Tiburon has agreed to pay the couple $150,000 as well as make substantial changes that Khalif and Awash hope will make the upscale community a more inclusive place.
"We are not begging, we are demanding to be treated with love, with dignity and with respect," Khalif said at a press conference in Tiburon on Tuesday (April 19).
"This isn't about just me and Yema," Awash added, according to the news station. "It's about every single Black and Brown person that comes into the Tiburon community, that comes into the Belvedere community.".
The profiling happened in late August 2020 when the couple were working late at night in their clothing store. Tiburon police approached the store and demanded the couple prove they were the owners. The situation diffused when a white neighbor yelled to police that the couple owned the store.
Body camera and cell phone video of the incident went viral, leading the Tiburon police chief and one of the police officers to resign.
In addition to the monetary settlement, the town of Tiburon has agreed to create a community advisory board. Members will be able to help vet candidates for its police department with Khalif and Awash being a part of that board.
