Cops Brutally Beat Police Misconduct Investigator After Turning Off Dash Cam
George Roberts, a Chicago employee in charge of investigating police misconduct, was pulled over by Chicago police for minor traffic violations and allegedly beaten so badly that he lost control of his bowels. Police also mocked Roberts, a black man, with Eric Garner’s dying words, saying, “What are you going to tell me next? You can’t breathe?”
Roberts, who is a supervisor at the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA), says that after he was stopped for the minor traffic violation, police approached his vehicle with guns drawn and at least one weapon pointed directly at him, with one officer threatening, “Don’t make me fucking shoot you!”
“This was wholly unnecessary and unreasonable, as [he] was not threatening, resisting, or otherwise failing to comply with the Defendants’ orders at this point or at any point during the stop,” stated Roberts’ court complaint.
Roberts says that moments after police saw his IPRA identification badge, officer Brandon Ellison “ran back to his vehicle” and killed the dash cam recording the incident. Police only admitted the existence of the dash cam video after Roberts’ attorney discovered it. According to Roberts’ court complaint, “Up to that point, the video recording device had been properly functioning with date and time stamps clearly visible.”
Roberts was subsequently taken to jail where he allegedly remained in his soiled clothes overnight and was laughed at by a cop “wearing a white Chicago Police uniform shirt”, the complaint states.
Police claimed that Roberts had been pulled over for driving under the influence, a charge for which he was later acquitted.
In July, another member of Chicago’s Independent Police Review Authority was fired after refusing to exonerate police for civilian shootings.
Read the rest of the complaint in its entirety below:
Ken Klippenstein is a freelance journalist based in Madison, WI who can be reached on twitter@kenklippenstein or via email: [email protected]
Paul Gottinger is a staff reporter at Reader Supported News who can be reached on twitter @paulgottinger or via email: [email protected]
