Source: news4jax / news4jax
During a press conference on Tuesday, Attorneys representing the family of Le’Keian Woods called on the Department of Justice to open an investigation into the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
Woods was brutally beaten by JSO police during an arrest, which went viral after a pedestrian posted the incident to social media.
Civil rights attorneys, led by Harry Daniels, updated the media on Le’Keian Woods’ condition revealing that the young Black man has a ruptured kidney, suffers from migraines and gets dizzy when he walks.
Attorneys likened the arrest of Le’Keian Wood to a “UFC ground and pound beat down by trained professionals,” questioning if officers had the right to pull over the vehicle Woods was a passenger in.
Daniels and the team also questioned why JSO had to brutally beat Woods before taking him into custody, calling the department an “orchard full of bad apples.”
Daniels also called out the JSO Gang Unit, which he says has a history of stopping people “on pretexts to assault and terrorize them.”
On Monday during a press conference, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters defended his officers after releasing body camera footage of the incident, saying the officers were justified in their violent arrest of Le’Keian Woods.
Sheriff Waters also said that a portion of the video was “intentionally altered” to drive a wedge between the community and the police.
However, Attorney Marwan Porter said JSO only provided partial transparency, not full transparency and that police can’t bring up the past to justify their actions in the present.
According to the police report, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Gang Unit was conducting undercover surveillance in the San Jose area when they came across Le’Keian Woods. The truck that Woods was the passenger in was pulled over by police who claimed there was suspicion of a drug deal but admitted they used the seat belt violation as justification for the stop. JSO says the vehicle kept driving “as if the occupants were looking for a place to run.”
After the truck eventually stopped, Woods allegedly jumped out of the front passenger seat and ran through an apartment complex. When officers caught Woods they tased him twice before Woods fell face-first onto the pavement. JSO then claims Woods started to “violently resist” a detective’s attempts to arrest him.
The police report states that one detective hit Woods five times in the face and once in the ribs, while another kneed him four times in the ribs and face. One of the detectives involved in the incident claims there were “unintentional knee strikes to Le’Keian’s face during the struggle.”
“It’s unfortunate that the sheriff believes the beating of an unarmed man is justified,” Daniels told AP. “It is obvious that he is complicit and an enabler of clear misconduct by his officers. It is not surprising that (the sheriff’s office) didn’t find any misconduct because they investigate themselves.”
According to USA Today, Le’Keian Woods was charged with armed traffic of methamphetamine, armed traffic of cocaine, armed possession of a controlled substance, resisting an officer with violence and violation of probation.
Click here to watch the full press conference.
SEE ALSO:
Florida Sheriff Defends Cops Who Brutalized Unarmed Black Man After Seat Belt Stop
Video Of Black Man ‘Beaten By Multiple’ Florida Cops Goes Viral As Family Demands Justice
