Myrtle Beach Man Receives $11M Settlement After “War On Weed” Police Raid Leaves Him Paralyzed

The “war on weed” has left a trail of devastation in its wake, especially in Black communities across the country. For one Black Myrtle Beach man, he was left paralyzed, subjected to prosecution and later received an over $11 million settlement after police shot him inside his home.

Julian Betton was inside his home in April 2015 when a team of heavily armed police from the city’s Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) broke down his door with a battering ram, without ever knocking or announcing their presence as police. Three police fired on him 29 times, hitting him nine times. The Myrtle Beach man paralyzed as a result and remains unable to walk until this day, despite multiple surgeries to treat his injuries.

Five years later, the Julian Betton lawsuit was settled for $11.25 million, with $8.5 million from the city of Myrtle Beach and the remainder from other law enforcement agencies involved in the attack on Betton’s home. The settlement came after judges hearing the case at the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals castigated cops for lying about the war on weed Julian Betton and the events that left the Myrtle Beach man paralyzed.

One judge declared, “They lied or made false representations. Every single one of them said they knocked and identified themselves as police and it’s no longer contested that none of that’s true.” Police claimed that Betton fired his gun at them first, but forensic evidence and a videotape of the incident from Betton’s own home security system showed that Betton had never fired his gun at all.

The Julian Betton lawsuit began because police pulled over a medically disabled veteran in a traffic stop for a busted taillight and found marijuana ash in her car. Given the choice of facing criminal charges or becoming an informant for the DEU, she went to Betton and bought $100 worth of weed. Based on this, the DEU drew up a plan for an armed raid called “Operation Jules,” Betton’s nickname. The operation plan later introduced into evidence in court carried the DEU’s logo at the time: a skull and crossbones, pierced by a sword, with a marijuana leaf behind it.

Police went to his home with a standard warrant, knocked down his door and rushed inside without announcing themselves, despite the case involving only a small-time marijuana charge. They shot at Betton dozens of times, causing his paralysis, and then lied about the facts. While the $11,000,000 war on weed Julian Betton settlement is one of the largest civil rights settlements ever paid in South Carolina, no cops involved in the case were ever criminally prosecuted. At least one is still on the job as a cop.

Instead, Betton himself faced criminal charges. He was accused of pointing and presenting a firearm as well as drug charges. He received a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and distribution of marijuana while he pursued his federal civil case. Federal judges hearing the case described the circumstances as “horrendous” and “outrageous,” and the settlement

was reached before the case would have gone to trial later in 2020.

Betton’s case has sparked greater calls for drug law and police reform in Myrtle Beach, highlighting both police violence against the Black community and the devastating effects of the war on weed. As more states and cities pursue legalization or decriminalization, people like Julian Betton continue to live with the scars of failed policies.