‘Signal Hill’s George Floyd’: Day Of Remembrance For Ron Settles

LONG BEACH, CA — The Signal Hill police station where Cal State Long Beach Football Star Ron Settles drew his last breath is long gone, but the impact his unjust death had on policing in California remains.

So much has changed since that summer of 1981 when the 21-year-old running back was pulled over for speeding on his way to his job coaching middle schoolers.

After he died in custody, most jails installed security cameras to record interactions between officers and arrestees. Now, because of his death, officers must make a report every time they physically restrain an inmate. And in 2021, unlike then, the Signal Hill Chief of Police isn’t claiming that Settles hung himself alone in his jail cell despite a coroner's inquest concluding he was the victim of a homicide.

The city has spent decades reckoning with the death of the young football star, and the community is determined not to forget the man nor the legacy of his family’s fight for justice.

“Ron Settles is Signal Hill’s George Floyd,” Signal Hill Mayor Edward Wilson said last week at a memorial celebration on what would have been Settles’ 63rd birthday, according to the Signal Tribune. “His death while in the custody of the Signal Hill Police Department is a tragedy that Signal Hill is known for even to this day.”

On Saturday, the 40th anniversary of his death, the community will honor his legacy with a Ron Settles Day Of Remembrance: “Celebrating Life, Change and Hope.” The event will be streamed live on Youtube at 1 p.m.

“For us, 40 years later it was important for us to return to the scene of the crime to say, ‘forgiveness is possible.’ Dr. King said, ‘hate can’t drive out hate. Only love can do that.’ We came back to the same city, the same spot to declare we will celebrate his life. We will celebrate change and we will celebrate hope,” said Settles’ aunt Juanita Strong Matthews. “We have been embraced by the City Council, by the mayor, by the chief of police. It’s a complete turnaround of what was 40 years ago. That is why we declare: love never fails.”

‘The Infraction That Cost Him His Life’

On June 12, 1981, Settles was a young athlete being recruited by the NFL. He had never been arrested by police until that day he was pulled over for speeding by Signal Hill Police Officer Jerry Brown. According to a months-long investigation of the incident, Brown would claim that Settles was uncooperative, refusing to show his driver's license or exit his vehicle. A witness testified at the coroner’s inquest that she saw two officers holding their guns to Settles’ head. Officers later claimed Settles had a knife and drug paraphernalia. Settles was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, possession of cocaine and refusing to identify himself, according to news reports from the time.

Brown admitted that he had beaten Mr. Settles on the head and legs for being belligerent while he was being booked, according to the New York Times.

Three hours after he was booked, Settles was found dead in his jail cell. Police did not take photos of the scene and claimed that he had hung himself with a mattress cover. Bernard Bradley, an inmate in the next cell would testify at the inquest that there were no mattress covers in the cells. He testified that Settles told him he was scared and wanted to bail out.

“On my way out I walked past Settles' cell, and he was sitting on his bunk, leaning back against the wall. I looked in and talked to him for a minute, and I'm absolutely sure there was no mattress pad on that bunk. There was nothing on that bunk,” Bradley testified according to a UPI report at the time. “He was asking me about how to get out of jail, posting bail and all that. 'He said he'd never been in jail before and he was scared. He wanted to get out of jail. He sure never talked about killing himself.”

The coroner’s inquest into Settle’s death was held to determine how he died. It’s a rare type of investigation that has occurred in Los Angeles County only twice in 40 years — in the Settles case and in 2020 when a Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy shot an 18-year-old 5 times in the back as he lay face down on the ground. In both cases, the inquest was held amid widespread public distrust in law enforcement’s official account of events.

All six officers involved in the case refused to cooperate, pleading the fifth during questioning.

“Whatever happened. My nephew was innocent of everything they charged him with except maybe speeding. That was the infraction that cost him his life. He made the gross mistake of driving through Signal Hill as a shortcut to get to work,” said Strong Mathews. “They claimed he had aggressive behavior, that he had a substance in the car they claimed looked like cocaine, and they said he acted out like he would resist arrest. In some accounts, it said he had superhuman strength. It was all a lie. He was easygoing.”

The Settles family and a broad coalition of community supporters created the Ron Settles justice Committee and held rallies demanding answers.

“The whole community grieved with us. Stevie Wonder helped to do a benefit concert to raise money for the defense of this case,” said Strong Matthews. “I believe so many people in my community and in my ethnicity had experienced similar treatment, but it did not make the news...That happens more often than not, especially back in the day because they could create their own story because there were no accounts, no videos other than Rodney King. Even when there are, they will make you think you don’t see what you see.”

Represented by the late Johnnie Cochran, the Settles family sued the city of Signal Hill, settling for about $1 million. The lawsuit and the decades-long fight since then have been about clearing his name, helping grieving families through similarly difficult times, and fighting police brutality, said Strong Matthews.

That’s what made the last year so bittersweet for Settles’ family and their supporters.

“When I heard about George Floyd, at first, I couldn’t watch the video. It was such a chilling reminder of what it must have been like for my nephew," Mathews said. "It was a bitter pill to see what happened in this day and time in the 21st century and to see the callousness of an officer with his knee on the neck of another human being. It was a chilling, cold, heartless act, and it so reminded me of what must have happened to Ronnie. The coroner said Ronnie was beaten beyond recognition.

"Then as I was able to watch it, and I saw the outpouring of support care, as I saw how people all over the world rallied around this family, that, too, was a reminder of how people surrounded us and encouraged us and rallied with us.”

Floyd’s killer was convicted of murder whereas no police officer in Settles’ case was ever prosecuted. That progress is why the Settles family and their supporters in Signal Hill continue the fight. They are asking the community to petition City Hall to officially declare June 2 a day of remembrance for Ron Settles.

Recently, the mayor of Signal Hill presented to Mattews a proclamation acknowledging that Settles was a star at Cal State Long Beach, who died at the hands of Signal Hill Police.

He also presented a proclamation to Matthews creating the Ron Settles Memorial Foundation Scholarship to support Black students seeking degrees in education and criminal justice, the Signal Tribune reported.

At the event, Reverend Wayne Chaney, Jr. acknowledged the impact and the lives saved because of the fight for justice for Ron Settles.

“Because he died, you can no longer take someone in the jail cell without reasonable visibility and accountability,” Chaney told the Signal Tribune. "Because he died, there are cameras in holding facilities. Because he died, there must be detailed accounts of every use of force while detained. We still have progress to make, but because he died, hundreds of men and women that look like him will live to return to their families no matter how long they were detained."

The Ron Settles Day of Remembrance can be viewed here.