from the arrest-rage-for-‘insulting-the-police’ dept
It has long been recognized by federal courts that giving a one-finger salute to a law enforcement officer is not enough not crime, but speech is protected. It means that “birds” can’t be seen alone be the basis for a stop or arrest. And it certainly doesn’t justify the deployment of troops, especially of the “excess” variety.
If you’re not sure how the federal government feels about giving police the finger, documents fill the DOJ [PDF] briefly stated:
As Victim EB drove past defendant BENZA, defendant BENZA saw Victim EB extend his middle finger to defendant BENZA. The gesture of extending the middle finger in, called “flipping off” or “flip off,” a law enforcement officer is an activity protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
“Defendant BENZA” is Joseph Benza III, a deputy working for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD). The LASD has been notorious for years, for incidents such as “gangs” of house deputies who celebrate the excessive deployment of troops with a new tattoo or the occasional disability of one of its members. It is also the subject of a DOJ investigation, thanks to the massive amount of internal corruption that extends to its illegal prison informant program.
“EB’s victim” is Emmett Brock, a transgender man who sidestepped Deputy Benza while driving an officer’s cruiser. The one-and-done led to a far more concentrated effort by the deputy to punish Brock for daring to disrespect people, but for a moment.
In response to seeing the gesture of Victim EB, accused BENZA leave the phone for the confirmed service and even started closely following Victim EB In pursuit of Victim EB, defendant BENZA drove through the neighborhood, at a certain point reaching a speed of over 50 miles per hour. Defendant BENZA followed Victim EB for approximately 1.8 miles without attempting to stop or pull Victim EB over.
While defendant BENZA was chasing Victim EB, defendant BENZA called Deputy A. During the call, defendant BENZA told Deputy A that someone was threatening him and that defendant BENZA was going to conduct a traffic stop on the person. Because defendant BENZA intended to use violence against Victim EB, defendant BENZA further asked Deputy A to start driving to defendant BENZA’s location.
Correct: Deputy Benza did not respond to a domestic violence call with the sole purpose of intentionally causing physical harm to someone who had abused him. Benza never officially pulled Brock. Instead, he waited until Brock had parked in front of the store before pulling up behind Brock and turning on his lights.
Which causes this:
Defendant BENZA approached Victim EB, who got out of Victim EB’s car. Defendant BENZA told Victim EB that defendant BENZA had stopped Victim EB Victim EB denied that defendant BENZA had stopped Victim EB.
Without giving Victim EB an order, defendant BENZA grabbed Victim EB Victim EB pulled away from defendant BENZA and said, “Don’t touch me.” Accused BENZA then pushed Victim EB to the ground. After Victim EB was on the ground, defendant BENZA mounted Victim EB, punched Victim EB several times in the head and face, and slammed Victim EB’s face into the sidewalk. The EB victim repeatedly screamed for help and yelled, “You’re going to kill me!”; “I can’t breathe!”; and “Please stop!”
[Personal note: I have experienced this same thing, minus the beating. I had a cop trail me for more than a mile and when I stopped at a convenience store, he claimed he had pulled me over. I called bullshit and more cops arrived, shined their flashlights into the cab of my truck and claimed someone had reported my “exhibition” driving nearly 10 miles away from the point I was “pulled over.” I again called bullshit and gradually the officers all wandered away to apparently find someone more easily exploitable to exploit. That I was white definitely altered the contours of the stop. It could have been worse. Sure, this is just anecdata, but it’s something cops do everywhere they think they can get away with it.]
All this was captured by the store’s camera, which is the only recording taken. Nothing was captured by the deputy’s dash cam. In addition, Deputy Benza and his colleagues (although none of the unnamed deputies were criminally charged) created a narrative that hides the fact that this “stop” was initiated only for revenge, deleted text messages between those involved. officials who showed another, and buried the fact that Benza searched the victim’s phone to make sure the victim’s device did not contain a recording of this stop.
Meanwhile, Brock suffers more pain than physical harm from the fake “stop”. This is from the Los Angeles Times report on the latest developments in this case that have been going on since it was first reported by Brock.
In the report, Benza said that Brock “was going to throw a punch,” so he grabbed his arm and hit him first, hitting him repeatedly. During the struggle, the deputy’s report states, Brock “tried to rip the skin off my hand” by repeatedly biting him.
But the paramedic report from the scene did not mention any bite marks. And when Benza went to the hospital later, the doctor’s assistant wrote that “there are no bite marks now.”
Still, Brock was taken to the Norwalk sheriff’s station and booked on three felonies and one misdemeanor. He suffered a concussion, along with scratches and bruises.
Brock’s family rescued him that evening. He lost his job four days after state authorities notified the school of pending charges, ie dropped a few weeks after The Times the first video published of the incident.
Fortunately, this attack was caught on tape. Otherwise, the DOJ may be forced to label the investigation inconclusive. But since then – and there are many other criminal charges the DOJ could choose to bring against the deputy – Benza has pleaded guilty to excessive force.
Nearly two years after he was caught on camera beating a transgender man in a 7-Eleven parking lot, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy has agreed to plead guilty in federal court to violating his civil rights for using excessive force, prosecutors said Wednesday.
[…]
In a plea agreement filed the same day, Benza said he would plead guilty to a single felony charge, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.
That means Benza will only pay the price for a single criminal charge, rather than several illegal acts detailed in the DOJ’s charging document. Whether or not he will spend time in prison remains to be seen. However, for now, Vice Benza is off the job and will be in jail, but it may be a little. For his former employer, it’s no better than usual: a welcome home for repeat offenders.
Previously, an internal investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department cleared the deputy of the wrongdoing. This week, the department said in a statement that its previous determination was based on statements and reports provided at the time.
That bastard. This is the LASD showing that in regards to the internal investigation, the officer said… there is none. It will not look for anything to contradict the officer’s sworn statement, even if there is a record of the alleged act. After all, there probably isn’t a single store in the Los Angeles area that isn’t crawling with CCTV cameras. All it will take is one request to destroy the deputy regent’s nonsense statement. However, LASD couldn’t be bothered to revisit this case until then next The LA Times posted the footage. It’s just painful.
Filed under: emmett brock, excessive force, joseph benza, lasd, dept. los angeles sheriff, police misconduct
