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Twelve Springfield, Massachusetts, police officers are under investigation for beating four unarmed African-American men in April of 2015 in the parking lot of Nathan Bill’s Bar and Restaurant.

According to victim Paul Cumby, the incident started inside the bar when his cousin, Jozelle Ligon, whistled to get the bartender’s attention. An off-duty police officer at a nearby table thought Ligon was whistling at his girlfriend and the two got into an argument, which ended up outside of the establishment.

Cumby says he attempted to de-escalate the situation, but after the violent altercation, he suffered a concussion, a broken leg, and had several teeth knocked out.

No charges were ever filed against Cumby and he was never arrested for a crime. His attorney, Michelle Cruz, spoke with Roland Martin on Wednesday morning about the case and the attempt to bring the officers to justice for the violent encounter.

Cruz explained eighteen months have passed since the night of the beating and nothing has happened to the officers. Neither the police detective nor the internal affairs’ investigations yielded any results in the apparent unlawful activities of the twelve Springfield cops.

When a report was sent over to the District Attorney’s office, “it just kind of sat there,” Cruz said.

The attorney told Martin that if the other individuals involved in the beating were not cops, “Those people would have been arrested at the scene.”

Cruz also believes an investigation would have been conducted at the scene of the altercation. “The only difference here is that the alleged assailants were off-duty police officers and was covered up by the entire police department at this point,” said Cruz.

As a result of Cumby’s injuries, he has not been able to work and will undergo surgery.

Watch Roland Martin and Attorney Michelle Cruz discuss the police cover-up of the beating of four unarmed Black men by a group of off-duty police officers.

PHOTO CREDIT: Getty

Watch NewsOne Now with Roland Martin, in its new time slot on TV One.

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