Three soldiers from the state of Louisiana were arrested and charged with simple battery operation this month after forcibly arresting a black driver two years ago. Reported by the Associated Press ᲮThursday.
In camera footage obtained by the AP, three soldiers can be seen with Antonio Harris, in a vehicle chasing a high-speed pursuit. Harris surrendered to the officers, but they continued to beat him repeatedly, hitting him and punching him in the knee.
Soldiers – Jacob Brown, Dakota Demos and George Harper – were charged with misconduct in an accident after dismissal by local prosecutors Criminal cases In case of violation of position. The three men turned white.
Documents obtained by HuffPost show that three former soldiers were charged on 5 May.
Louisiana state police did not respond to a request for comment on allegations against officers on Thursday.
Brown recruited Harris for a petty traffic violation on May 23, 2020 and, after reviewing his criminal history, determined that his license had been suspended and he had a failed warrant. Harris then quickly fled and was chased by state soldiers and was later arrested.
An internal investigation found that the soldiers had given false information about the arrest and falsely claimed that Harris began arguing with them during the incident. Brown, one of the officers, also did not inform prosecutors of the availability of body camera footage of the incident.
In text messages after the arrest, soldiers taunted Harris, saying “tomorrow will be painful.” Harris had a sore rib and was spitting blood, the AP reported.
The federal government is more extensively investigating Louisiana police for using racist language against black officers, ignoring or hiding evidence of beatings and avoiding allegations of misconduct by officers. .
A federal grand jury in Lafayette also heard testimony in Harris’ case. It is unclear whether the U.S. Department of Justice will continue to prosecute civil rights violations against soldiers.
The men who arrested Harris have a history of excessive use of force against civilians in the state. That’s Brown Billed in 2019 For hitting a black car with a flashlight 18 times.
In February 2021, state police arrested soldiers from the same division after they were charged with excessive use of force, disabling body cameras and making false statements about two arrests in 2019 and 2020.
Local authorities have not yet explained how black Ronald Green died in police custody. Soldiers from the same unit, including Demos, were involved in the incident.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: Huffpost
