$6M settlement after ‘KKK’ deputies sued for excessive force

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – A North Carolina sheriff’s office has agreed to a $6 million settlement in a lawsuit in which six families accused the department of a pattern of using excessive force.

The lawsuit also said three deputies whose surnames begin with the letter K had called themselves the “KKK.”

WRAL reports Raleigh-based attorney Robert Zaytoun announced the settlement with the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office.

The lawsuit was filed by the family of John David Livingston, who was shot and killed by a Harnett County deputy after refusing to allow a warrantless search of his home in 2015.

Sheriff Wayne Coats says the settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing.