The strip search lasted just six minutes, but when it ended, Jarius Brown had a broken nose, fractured eye socket and a badly swollen face.
Never-before-published footage shows why: Two Louisiana sheriff’s deputies pummeled the naked 25-year-old, flinging him around the DeSoto Parish Detention Center laundry room while landing a flurry of 50 punches.
In the aftermath of the 2019 assault, one of the deputies resigned and the other was suspended. Internal records show the sheriff’s office concluded “there was no way of defending” the deputies’ actions.
Yet, that’s just what the Louisiana State Police did, an Associated Press investigation has found. After waiting months to analyze the graphic video and more than a year to even interview Brown, the agency cleared the deputies of wrongdoing. The state police ultimately supported the deputies’ claims that Brown had been the “aggressor” in an altercation that took place after he had been arrested on charges of stealing a car.
If anyone is wondering. This is a form of political violence. The state literally paid to have this man assaulted for no other reason than to send a message. The message, Black people better get in line.