If this isn't police brutality what is?
“Many of you have seen the video of Mesa police. … I don’t want this to happen to no one in this particular system. … I’m a family man, I’m a God-fearing person, I just want Mesa to be accountable to what they have done." - Robert Johnson
I have read dozens of cases like these and it seems like there is never any repercussions for such actions. Many times officers like the one's in this brutal attack go without any consequences for abusing the "power and privilege" the badge gives them when wearing it.
In one of the videos I seen, 33-year-old Robert Johnson follow the commands given and even is patted down with no signs of resisting or signs of threat, takes a corner in which an officer said something and almost immediately after Robert Johnson is knocked out from multiple punches to the face.
Before he is actually knocked out, you can see the officer grab him in a Muay Thai clinch where he follows up with multiple blows from his knee, then the powerful punches to the face, ended by the elbow to what appears to be his temple.
Was any of this justified?
Where in this video did an officer feel such threat that it called for such brutality?
Could it be that the new ways of serving and protecting only benefits those wearing the badge?
The surveillance footage was released on June 5 2018, but the actual attack occurred on May 23, 2018.
According to a statement made by the Mesa Police Department: “The incident in question occurred on May 23, 2018 when officers were called to 701 E. Main regarding a Domestic Disturbance with a firearm in the apartment. A female caller advised that her ex-boyfriend was at the apartment with a second male subject and was trying to force his way into the apartment. Officers arrived a short time later and detained both male subjects. The males were later identified as 20-year-old Erick Reyes (the ex-boyfriend) and 33-year-old Robert Johnson. Johnson was charged with Disorderly Conduct and Hindering Prosecution. Reyes was charged with Disorderly Conduct DV and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia."
Ramon Batista, Mesa's Chief of Police was interviewed by multiple local news department after the attack occurred. While being interviewed he confirmed that three officers and a sergeant were removed from active duty and placed on administrative leave.