Disturbing new video shows the moment a transgender person was violently thrown to the ground and arrested by a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy — during a traffic stop supposedly because of an illegal air freshener.
The incident took place in a 7-Eleven parking lot on Mills Avenue in February and Emmett Brock, 23, suffered a concussion and handcuffs.
In addition, it happened during the substitute teacher’s routine ride from work, which eventually left him out of work. He continues to face charges related to the incident.
He has admitted to giving the deputy the middle finger before he was apprehended – something the deputy said nothing about in the report.
Video from the 7-Eleven security camera shows the full arrest — with Brock not resisting after Deputy Joseph Benza drove into the lot directly behind him and blocked him.
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Disturbing new video shows the moment a transgender person was violently thrown to the ground and arrested by a Los Angeles County deputy — during a traffic stop, purportedly over an illegal air freshener
The incident took place in a 7-Eleven parking lot on Mills Avenue in February and Emmett Brock, 23, suffered a concussion and handcuffs.
Audio and video of the incident, captured by the deputy’s body-worn camera, provided an even clearer picture, showing that the officer used excessive force for no reason.
‘Come here. I just stopped you,” you hear the deputy say to Brock as he steps out of the vehicle and approaches the young teacher from behind.
“No, you didn’t,” you hear Brock reply as he turns to the store entrance, apparently assuming the deputy had followed him because of the gesture he’d given him shortly before.
“Yes, I did,” replies the deputy — before physically grabbing the apparent pedestrian and tackling him to the ground.
While this is happening, Brock seems scared and doesn’t fight back once.
‘Oh my God. What the hell is going on,” you can hear him say in the harrowing bodycam footage – released last month but now backed up by newly released security footage from the convenience store.
It shows the deputy appearing to escalate the encounter almost immediately upon exiting the vehicle as Brock is seen in a non-threatening manner.
Brock has since stated that at the time he wasn’t sure what he had done – and that the officer seen in the footage made no attempt to explain why he arrested him.
For the next three minutes, Brock struggles with the deputy – while being pinned to the curb and repeatedly hit in the head.
“You’re going to kill me,” you hear Brock yell as he writhes to the ground covered in blood. “You’re going to fucking kill me. Staff! Staff! Staff! I’m not resisting!’
In addition, it happened during the substitute teacher’s routine ride from work, which eventually left him out of work. He continues to face charges related to the incident
Brock’s attorney, Thomas Beck, said he saw a deputy “call names on a woman of color,” so he dropped the deputy. Then Beck said the deputy started following Brock
At one point, the deputy is seen – and heard – ordering the shocked victim to put his arms behind his back.
Brock’s arms, however, were already tucked under his chest, with all the officer’s weight pressed on him.
Speaking to the LA Times, Brock later said, “Even when I got them out the way he wanted, he kept beating me.”
“He kept saying, ‘Stop resisting, stop resisting.’ I didn’t understand why he yelled that, because I didn’t resist,” he added.
Previously, the sheriff’s department cited how two witnesses came forward after the incident to testify that they saw Brock get out of his car and struggle with the deputy sheriff — with one in particular claiming they saw the young teacher punch and land.
The newly released CCTV footage seems to discredit that claim – and shows no such encounter.
Furthermore, in an incident report written by Benza after the incident, the deputy did not mention that he was beaten by the suspect.
He did, however, write that Brock resisted arrest – and that the violence was justified. He said the encounter occurred when Brock fled his vehicle after being pulled over for an air freshener he illegally mounted on his rear-view mirror.
“It looked like he was about to walk away from the car and from me,” Benza, who is still employed by the police as of Monday, wrote as part of an 11-page file in which he suspected the encounter.
“His rejection of my traffic detention and apparent intent to distance himself from his vehicle further raises safety concerns,” the deputy continued.
“I know from my training and experience that those who have contraband in vehicles often try to distance themselves from their vehicles when law enforcement is present.”