Officers Accused Of Beating Transsexual
One Officer Fired, Another Placed On Desk Duty
POSTED: 10:55 am CDT June 19,
2008
UPDATED: 12:29 pm CDT June 19,
2008
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Surveillance tape at a Memphis police station captures police officers hitting a transsexual that they had taken into custody.
Video: Transsexual Beaten By Memphis OfficerPolice video that was recorded on Feb. 12 shows transsexual Duanna Johnson in the booking area at the Memphis Police Department after an arrest on prostitution charges.Surveillance video shows an officer walk over and hit her in the face several times."Actually he was trying to get me to come over to where he was, and I responded by telling him that that wasn't my name My mother didn't name me a faggot or a he/she, so he got upset and approached me. That's when it started," said Johnson.Johnson said the officer was trying to get her to get finger printed, but he said she didn't respond to the derogatory name he called her."He said, 'I'm telling you. I'm giving you one more chance to get up.' So, I'm looking at him, and he started putting his gloves on, and I saw him take out a pair of handcuffs," said Johnson.Video showed the officer hitting her several times with the handcuffs wrapped around his knuckles.While the beating occurred, another officer held Johnson's shoulders as she tried to protect herself, the video showed.After taking several blows, Johnson stood up and swung back."I was afraid. I had had enough. Like I said, I thought the other officers that were witnessing this would at least try to stop him. He hit me so hard, like the third time he hit me, it split my skull and I had blood coming out, so I jumped up," said Johnson.After she sat back down, video showed the officer hitting her in the face again and then spraying her with Mace."These are the people we depend on to protect us, and I think the majority of officers in Memphis are good officers. When you see what you see on that video, it's a scary sight to see that that could happen to any one of us," said Johnson's attorney Arthur Horne.James Swain, 25, who had been serving a probationary period as a new officer, was fired fired on Wednesday, according to police spokeswoman Monique Martin.Another officer, Bridges McRae, 28, has been assigned to desk duty in connection with the beating.After the beating, a jail nurse came to the station and walked past Johnson, never offering aid.The FBI and the district attorney's office are checking into possible civil rights violations.The Memphis Police Department issued a statement on Wednesday that it does not condone any misconduct of a police officer that will compromise official law enforcement duties or the rights or safety of citizens.The police department said it is conducting an internal investigation. Popular Slideshows On WSMV.com: Slideshow: Red-Hot Redheaded Celebrity Women Slideshow: Celebrities Commit Fashion Faux Pas Slideshow: Great Weather Photos
Video: Transsexual Beaten By Memphis OfficerPolice video that was recorded on Feb. 12 shows transsexual Duanna Johnson in the booking area at the Memphis Police Department after an arrest on prostitution charges.Surveillance video shows an officer walk over and hit her in the face several times."Actually he was trying to get me to come over to where he was, and I responded by telling him that that wasn't my name My mother didn't name me a faggot or a he/she, so he got upset and approached me. That's when it started," said Johnson.Johnson said the officer was trying to get her to get finger printed, but he said she didn't respond to the derogatory name he called her."He said, 'I'm telling you. I'm giving you one more chance to get up.' So, I'm looking at him, and he started putting his gloves on, and I saw him take out a pair of handcuffs," said Johnson.Video showed the officer hitting her several times with the handcuffs wrapped around his knuckles.While the beating occurred, another officer held Johnson's shoulders as she tried to protect herself, the video showed.After taking several blows, Johnson stood up and swung back."I was afraid. I had had enough. Like I said, I thought the other officers that were witnessing this would at least try to stop him. He hit me so hard, like the third time he hit me, it split my skull and I had blood coming out, so I jumped up," said Johnson.After she sat back down, video showed the officer hitting her in the face again and then spraying her with Mace."These are the people we depend on to protect us, and I think the majority of officers in Memphis are good officers. When you see what you see on that video, it's a scary sight to see that that could happen to any one of us," said Johnson's attorney Arthur Horne.James Swain, 25, who had been serving a probationary period as a new officer, was fired fired on Wednesday, according to police spokeswoman Monique Martin.Another officer, Bridges McRae, 28, has been assigned to desk duty in connection with the beating.After the beating, a jail nurse came to the station and walked past Johnson, never offering aid.The FBI and the district attorney's office are checking into possible civil rights violations.The Memphis Police Department issued a statement on Wednesday that it does not condone any misconduct of a police officer that will compromise official law enforcement duties or the rights or safety of citizens.The police department said it is conducting an internal investigation. Popular Slideshows On WSMV.com: Slideshow: Red-Hot Redheaded Celebrity Women Slideshow: Celebrities Commit Fashion Faux Pas Slideshow: Great Weather PhotosCopyright 2008 by WSMV.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved.
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