City hires lawyer for officer who threw teacher to ground

The city of Austin has hired an attorney to represent a white police officer accused in a lawsuit of throwing a black teacher to the ground during a traffic stop.

Documents obtained by The Austin American-Statesman (http://atxne.ws/2e7Bl95 ) show the city hired attorney Charles Frigerio to represent Officer Bryan Richter just months after city officials condemned the incident.

Austin officials say state law requires they provide a legal defense to Richter in such cases.

Richter arrested elementary school teacher Breaion King after she was stopped for speeding in June 2015. A camera in the patrol car recorded the arrest. The newspaper published the video in July.

King has filed a federal lawsuit against Richter and the city.

Frigerio says Richter used a reasonable amount of force during the arrest.