Physique digital camera video reveals a violent arrest in Chicago that’s now a civil rights lawsuit

Leroy Kennedy, a black man, says in his lawsuit that he was walking on a sidewalk on August 23, 2020 “to mind his own business”. Although he was not breaking any law, he was suddenly grabbed by the police and “popped into a brick wall and officers” hit his head on the sidewalk more than once, “the court document added.

The incident arrest report, provided to CNN by Kennedy’s attorneys and cited as part of the lawsuit, stated that Kennedy “looked directly in the direction (of the officers) and stiffened his body” and “enlarged his eyes (d)”. which means his eyebrows rose, causing a shocked look on his face. “

Officers wrote in the report that Kennedy’s appearance and the fact that he was “adjusting his hands and manipulating his front lap area” led them to believe that he was hiding a weapon.

The body camera video of the two responding officers, provided by Kennedy’s attorneys, shows officers running towards him and beating him against a wall and then onto the sidewalk almost immediately. At one point the video shows the officer’s hand grabbing Kennedy by the neck. The cameras did not record the first two minutes of the sound of the encounter.

The video shows that with large scratches visible on his forehead, Kennedy was placed in the back of the police car, where he was searched and handcuffed. When this happened, a crowd of angry onlookers started confronting and yelling at the officers.

After officers drive Kennedy a short distance to another location, an ambulance is called for him. The arrest report says he was taken to a hospital for treatment. The Chicago Police Department records that he was arrested on two counts of resisting arrest and one charge of heavy police officers.

The arrest report does not mention any weapons Kennedy found.

The criminal complaint against Kennedy was dropped four months later, on December 18, 2020, according to a Cook County attorney spokesman. The lawsuit alleges that this was because “video evidence showed that there was no case against him”.

The lawsuit alleges that the defendants – in this case the City of Chicago and the two arrest officers – used excessive force, wrongly arrested Kennedy, violated his due process, and violated four other charges. The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on Wednesday.

A Chicago Police spokesman said the department “has no jurisdiction to comment on any pending or proposed litigation.” CNN reached out to the Cook County Attorney’s Office for comment on the lawsuit but did not receive an immediate response.

Ben Crump, the civil rights attorney who has represented the families of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and other victims of police violence, described the arrest as “violent and vicious” and called for accountability in a tweet Thursday.

“The bodycam video shows the kind of hideous, inhuman treatment that SEVERELY traumatized him,” Crump wrote.

The lawsuit deals with “compensation for damages and because the accused have acted maliciously, willfully or suppressively, with punitive damages against the person (civil servant) in their individual capacity” as well as court and legal fees.