A federal jury in Louisiana on Wednesday acquitted a white state trooper charged with violating the civil rights of a Black motorist despite body-camera footage that showed the officer pummeling the man 18 times with a flashlight.

    • quindraco@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      For starters, let’s be clear: Jacob Brown committed battery, a violation of Louisiana state law. This case is about an alleged violation of Federal law and simply isn’t a battery case. That means it’s not as cut and dry as “we have this guy on video committing battery with a flashlight, of course he’s guilty”.

      This is what Jacob Brown was charged with violating: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/242

      So if you want to claim this case is open and shut or cut and dry, you need to point to some element of that law Jacob violated and then explain how it’s so obvious he violated that element.

      My first guess, and to be clear, I am speculating, is that they tried to prove Jacob battered Aaron because Aaron was black. That means proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Jacob doesn’t simply beat everyone up, which is very difficult to prove, especially since so many cops genuinely do simply beat everyone up.

      • roguetrick@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        This is a federal case so all the filings and judicial decisions are up on pacer of anyone feels like looking.

    • catsarebadpeople@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Systemic issues. The problem is that the jury is probably correct that under current Louisiana laws this pig did nothing wrong technically. We all know it’s fucked up but we’ve allowed our laws to be shaped by the people who abuse them.

      • MostlyBirds@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Whether he broke the law or not is completely irrelevant. 9 times out of 10, a jury in Louisiana is going to be composed of white racists who will always side with a white cop, because that’s the primary demographic of the state.