In the summer following the 2020 police killing of George Floyd, the fatal shooting of Julian Lewis generated headlines far beyond rural Georgia.
The Georgia State Patrol quickly fired the trooper who opened fire on Lewis within seconds of forcing the Black motorist to drive into a ditch in Screven County. Trooper Jake Thompson was arrested on a murder charge and jailed, though a grand jury declined to indict him. The state of Georgia eventually paid Lewis' family a $4.8 million settlement.
