Video Shows White DC Cop Punching Black Man 12X while Restrained. Cops Justify Search/Seizure by Claiming to "See a Drug Transaction" but Provide No Factual Support for said Claim. No Charges Filed

From [HERE] The 23-year-old Black man punched by a white D.C. cop as police arrested him Sunday in Southeast Washington was left with a broken nose, multiple fractures in his face and possible neurological damage, according to his family members and attorneys. [MORE]

During a Friday news conference in front of D.C. police headquarters, the relatives and attorneys pushed back on police suspicions that Kiiman Johnson may have been involved in a drug deal and said he did not deserve the violent response from officers.

D.C. Police Chief Robert J. Contee III has denounced the way officers handled the arrest, which was captured on video. He also said Johnson carried a .45-caliber handgun when he was arrested, but the arrest was “not the way we train our members to get illegal firearms off the streets.”

The charges against Johnson were dropped, the family’s attorneys stressed. They deflected questions about whether Johnson had a gun and said the focus should be on accountability for the officers involved. They called for those officers to be fired and prosecuted.

“My brother is not a criminal. He’s not a drug dealer,” said Kimani Johnson, Kiman Johnson’s twin sister. “He’s looking for a career. He has something in his brain, and he’s trying to accomplish it.”

Attorneys said Kiman Johnson spent Thursday night in the hospital and did not attend the Friday news conference because he did not feel well.

Relatives described Kiman Johnson as a kind, quiet person who studied accounting at Savannah State University to create more opportunities for himself and his loved ones. He cut his dreadlocks before college, relatives said, because he wanted to break out of stereotypes imposed upon Black men.

The police encounter occurred Sunday after officers in the 7th District reported seeing a suspected drug transaction in the 1500 block of U Street SE. When officers patted downJohnson, they reported feeling what appeared to be a firearm under his clothes, police said. But what about that drug deal Washington Post? Maybe that’s why the case was no papered by prosecutors. How exactly did cops “see a drug transaction?” At the time of the arrest what was he under arrest for? One guess is that the Black man’s so-called 4th Amendment rights were violated by an unlawful seizure and search so their case was no papered by the government.

The video shows three officers with Johnson backed up against a fence. He appears to be struggling as one officer punches him several times in the face, and then shifts to another position and punches him again. A second officer also throws at least one punch.

D.C. police had charged Johnson with several crimes, including possessing an unregistered handgun and assault on a police officer while armed. Prosecutors, however, did not pursue those charges, and Johnson was released Monday afternoon following a brief hearing in D.C. Superior Court. The U.S. attorney’s office did not explain their decision.

Contee suspended the three officers and referred them to the prosecutors’ office for possible criminal prosecution. A spokesman for that office has not commented on the investigation. Police have not released the officers’ names.

Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said this week she wished Johnson had been charged, but also noted she understood prosecutors may have backed off the case because of the arresting officer’s conduct.

The union representing D.C. police officers defended the officers’ tactics, saying Johnson was resisting arrest and could have been trying to reach a firearm.

Johnson’s relatives described feeling distraught over seeing the video of him restrained and punched by officers and hearing speculation about his character. Angela Johnson, a cousin, said Kiman Johnson told her he has experienced short-term memory loss since the arrest. Lawyers said he has undergone MRIs and will be seeing a neurologist.

Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), a Black Strawboss and proxymoron said this week she wished Johnson had been charged, but also noted she understood prosecutors may have backed off the case because of the arresting officer’s conduct.