Deputies Beat Man During Traffic Stop (Scanner Audio) - November 7, 2022
- 8 months ago
On November 7th, 2022, a Caldwell Parish Sheriff's Office deputy conducted a traffic stop for an expired license plate. What happened next is disputed, with deputies stating that the driver continually resisted them, and witnesses stating he didn't. Deputies stated to news reporters that they tased him multiple times, put him in a headlock, and rolled him onto his side. What isn't disputed, thanks to a bystander who started recording, is that a deputy punched him multiple times in the ribs as two more deputies held him to the ground.
Needless to say, the witness video caused an uproar locally as it circulated online and was aired on KNOE news. In response to the uproar, sheriff Clay Bennett wrote a propaganda piece on the department's official Facebook page, where he shifted attention away from the deputies' brutality and onto the arrestee's "resistance."
In the same statement, sheriff Bennett lied in saying that he offered to show KNOE reporters the bodycam footage but they didn't respond. According to a local resident who emailed KNOE, the truth is that sheriff Bennett refused to turn over the footage. As of August 19, 2023, the department still refuses to release the footage in violation of state public records laws.
According to the arrestee/victim's social media posts, he suffered a broken arm, a broken rotator cuff, and a SLAP (Superior, Labrum, Anterior and Posterior) tear and has been unable to work. To me that suggests more serious force was used than what we've been told, and would most definitely explain the coverup and refusal to release footage.
Also of interest, as you can hear in this recording, nobody on scene ever called for EMS or took the arrestee to the hospital for a medical evaluation after clearly causing serious injuries. That constitutes a violation of the 8th Amendment's protection against cruel and unusual punishment, based on SCOTUS rulings holding that the government has a responsibility to provide adequate medical attention to persons in custody.
Needless to say, the witness video caused an uproar locally as it circulated online and was aired on KNOE news. In response to the uproar, sheriff Clay Bennett wrote a propaganda piece on the department's official Facebook page, where he shifted attention away from the deputies' brutality and onto the arrestee's "resistance."
In the same statement, sheriff Bennett lied in saying that he offered to show KNOE reporters the bodycam footage but they didn't respond. According to a local resident who emailed KNOE, the truth is that sheriff Bennett refused to turn over the footage. As of August 19, 2023, the department still refuses to release the footage in violation of state public records laws.
According to the arrestee/victim's social media posts, he suffered a broken arm, a broken rotator cuff, and a SLAP (Superior, Labrum, Anterior and Posterior) tear and has been unable to work. To me that suggests more serious force was used than what we've been told, and would most definitely explain the coverup and refusal to release footage.
Also of interest, as you can hear in this recording, nobody on scene ever called for EMS or took the arrestee to the hospital for a medical evaluation after clearly causing serious injuries. That constitutes a violation of the 8th Amendment's protection against cruel and unusual punishment, based on SCOTUS rulings holding that the government has a responsibility to provide adequate medical attention to persons in custody.