Image from body-cam. The thugs have Wright on the ground and a gun aimed at him.
A Cleveland man has filed a lawsuit against two police officers from the Euclid Police Department, in Ohio, for allegedly forcibly arresting and “maliciously” filing bogus charges against him in the aftermath of a traffic-stop on Nov. 4, 2016.
On Thursday, Lamar Wright, 36, filed a civilian complaint against Officer Kyle Flagg and Officer Vashon Williams for attacking, Tasering, and pepper-spraying him—before, arresting him. Wright said he had pulled over, into a driveway, “to safely use his cell phone.”
Wright said after he saw the two, armed, policeman approaching he decided to put his hands up. He said both officers had their guns pointed at him—and he was then ordered out of the car.
Unfortunately, Wright had a surgical procedure called a colostomy performed on him. The operation connects the colon to a pouch or bag for the collection of feces. The procedure is often done on people who have colon cancer.
Apparently, because of this, Wright was unable to exit the car in the hurried, obedient, fashion police expect from Blacks. No doubt this angered the officers who most likely thought this Black man was not complying with their demands. It is at this point they seemed to have decided they now had the right to forcibly remove Wright.
Wright’s lawsuit alleges that Officer “Flagg yanked on Wright’s left arm. Wright was still seated in the car at this time, and had staples in his stomach and a new colostomy bag. This, in combination with Flagg yanking on his left arm, prevented Wright from extending his right arm toward Flagg. … Flagg’s conduct caused Wright extreme pain. Wright cried out to Flagg several times that he was hurting his arm, but Flagg ignored him.”
The suit also says each officer “had the duty and opportunity to intervene to protect Wright, and to prevent the unconstitutional use of force against Wright. Neither Flagg nor Williams did anything to prevent this unlawful attack.”
Wright says he was forced onto the ground and handcuffed. We must wonder, at this point, why he was being handcuffed? What would Wright have been guilty of; the crime of not being an obedient Black man?
The interaction was caught on a bodycam, with both video and audio recordings.
Here is part of the audio exchange between Wright and police: Dude, I thought he had a gun,” Flagg says.
“He started reaching,” Williams says. “Why the fuck are you reaching like that?” Flagg asks Wright.
“I told you I got a bag!”
“No, dude, you were reaching with your right hand.”
“I got a bag!”
“What’s a bag?” Williams asks.
“A shit bag, man!”
“OK, but what are you doing reaching for it?” Williams asks.
“I don’t know if you’re getting ready to shoot me or what, man,” Flagg says.
The only good thing here is: Wright was not shot dead like Philando Castille was in Minnesota, on July 6, 2016; or like Keith Lamont Scott in North Carolina on Sept. 20, 2016; or like Sean Bell who was killed in a hail of 50 NYPD shots on Nov. 25—hours before his scheduled marriage.
Wright was also luckier than 23-year-old Luke Stewart who was killed by Euclid Police Officer Matthew Rhodes on March 13, of this year — he was an unarmed Black man apparently attacked while asleep in his car. Reportedly, Rhodes punched and Tasered Stewart before shooting him to death. Police apologists have talked about a wine bottle and a joint being found in Stewart’s car—as if that is somehow enough to justify the killing of this young man. Not surprisingly, the corrupt grand jury system, that we’re always told can “indict a ham sandwich,” failed to indict Officer Rhodes in August.
We often hear glowing rhetoric about the justice system, and blind Lady Justice. This fanciful notion of how America’s court system works, is meant to convince us that justice is fair and impartial, despite all evidence to the contrary. When has there ever been anything resembling justice for Black people in America?
The “justice” system is indeed deaf, dumb and “blind” when it comes to the violent crimes America’s police mete out on Black Americans every day.
Euclid Police have also been under fire for the violent arrest of another Black man, Richard Hubbard. A home recorded video captured police brutally beating Hubbard. Even when Hubbard was lying on his stomach, police can be seen on his back repeatedly punching him, for no good reason. In this case, bystander home recording, no doubt, led to the firing of Officer Michael Amiott last month.
Now, Wright may only be alive because of the bodycam the officer was wearing at the time. In the audio part of the police recording, Officer Flagg expresses the fear we always hear police voice about Black men: the fear of being shot. Was this officer saying this for the benefit of the audio recording?
The first question of course is why these officers approached Wright in this manner to begin with? What made the police target him? In his case it was not-driving while Black.
Euclid Police charged Wright with obstructing official business, resisting arrest, and criminal trespass. The first two seem like bogus charges that were logged to cover-up the heavy-handed behavior of these cops who are always behaving brutally towards Black people. The charges against Wright were dismissed in June.
The only charge here that may’ve had any relevance was the criminal trespass—but that should’ve only be the case if the owners of the driveway that Wright pulled into logged such a complaint. Even given this possibility, why would they, or the police, most likely, file such a complaint after seeing the kind of medical condition Wright was in?
There seems to have been a level of immoral vindictiveness at work here. Wright has alleged after he was taken to the hospital police “mocked” him for his condition. He was then jailed and had to pay “nearly $900 dollars” in bond, along with having to pay a $1,000 dollars fee for the pepper-spraying of the rental car he was driving.
“I filed this case to stand up against police brutality, and to stand with other victims of senseless attacks by officers from the Euclid Police Department. These officers’ illegal treatment of people in the city must stop,” Wright said. “We need justice for all the victims of the EPD.”
Indeed, we need justice for all Black people who are subjected to unjustified police violence and murder. Unfortunately, not many in the political class have the stomachs to honestly address the ongoing rampant brutality that Black people face.
For example, Democratic Party leader Nancy Pelosi is now talking about “zero tolerance,” as she seeks to remove long-time icon Congressman John Conyers for reportedly settling an alleged sexual harassment situation. She does this while giving lip-service about Mr. Conyers’s right to “due process.” Where’s the “zero tolerance” for police brutality?
None of these so-called leaders like Ms. Pelosi, or, Chuck Schumer talk about “zero tolerance” when it relates to these violence-prone police that victimize Black people. Because of fear of police unions—as well as the fact that many of these people don’t give a damn about Black oppression—we hear nothing from these political paragons about “the rule of law” applying to killer-cops.
Only Black America can change this reality.
