Suit: Police chasing white suspect wrongly arrest Black man

[Demovictory9]

A suburban Boston police officer who was pursuing a white suspect pinned a 20-year-old Black man to the ground as he was walking home and placed a knee on the man’s neck despite having no evidence that he was involved in any crime, according to a federal civil rights lawsuit filed Wednesday.

Donovan Johnson was minutes away from home after leaving work in February 2021 when a white officer who had been chasing the white suspect ran up to Johnson, drew his gun and threw him to the snow-covered ground face first, the lawsuit filed against the town of Arlington, Massachusetts, and three of its officers alleges.

The lawsuit says that the officer at one point pinned Johnson to the ground by placing a knee on Johnson’s neck. The complaint says Johnson yelled “I can’t breathe!”, but the officer “continued to pin Mr. Johnson to the ground with his knee,” while the white suspect police had been pursuing “was left unattended.”

https://apnews.com/article/crime-arrests-boston-lawsuits-massachusetts-6d95342c65226bb1d841947ae4b1603e

The lawsuit filed in Boston federal court alleges that police violated Johnson’s constitutional rights when they stopped him, searched him, handcuffed him and placed him in the back of a cruiser before releasing him with no charges.

[ck4829]

1. This is just surreal, police behavior is like out of a fever dream

Just picturing the police chasing some suspect then turning around and pinning some black guy walking down the street and throwing him into a cruiser is out of a cartoon.

[TheBlackAdder]

13. Donovon Johnson, "Do I look like a White man?" ........ Police, "Negative"

.

Alright, I admit that was a poor attempt at photography humor.


There was also this image that came out in response to Uvalde.


.

[2naSalit]

2. People in the western states...

Often express surprise when they hear about racism in the northeastern part of the US. It's always been there, we just don't hear about it much.

[IronLionZion]

6. For western states, the minorities might be Native American or Latino

Standing Rock had plenty of it.





Western cities like LA, Phoenix, Oakland, Portland, etc. have had plenty of racism. Sheriffs like Joe Arpaio and Daryl Gates were all about brutalizing minorities into submission.

For northeastern states, Vermont is known for having the least police killings of any US state.

[2naSalit]

12. Indeed...

But they don't naturally associate racism and the northeast. They also seem surprised that there is a long-time francophone population there. I had a linguistics prof who didn't know that, he was from LA.

Anyway, yes, there is a wealth of racism in the west, not widely acknowledged but present against indigenous people and others, Asians are also put upon in these parts, in some cases it depends on where you are as to which group is targeted.

[Hieronymus Phact]

14. It's there but not the same IMO

It lacks the prideful, boastful, public shamelessness that can accompany it in the south. Like they know it's unacceptable so they keep it less public. Whereas in the south I've seen people clearly enjoying it, and the the display of shamelessness is part of the enjoyment, as they look to you to see if you are sharing in the enjoyment too.

[irisblue]

3. More from the article

Snip-"The white suspect got on his knees, but Johnson stayed standing, the lawsuit says. After that, Johnson says Conroy drew his gun, threw him to the ground and pinned him down with a knee on his neck."

" Another officer who arrived in a cruiser recognized the white man and put him in handcuffs, and the suspect told the officer he didn’t know Johnson, according to the lawsuit. A third officer who arrived “immediately jumped on” Johnson to help Conroy hold him down, according to the complaint."

"Lawyers for Johnson say the officers had no reason to believe Johnson was involved in any crime: Police had a photo of the white suspect they were looking for, Johnson and the other man both told officers they didn’t know each other and “nothing in the investigation indicated that there was more than one male suspect involved,” the lawsuit says."

"The complaint says Johnson was released at the hotel after its staff told officers they had never seen him before. Police left him to find his own way home, the lawsuit says."

[FailureToCommunicate]

8. Over an alleged TV theft by the white guy...

More from the article:

Police were were initially called to an Arlington hotel about a man seen there who the staff believed was previously involved in the theft of televisions, the lawsuit says. The white man was “known to police” for “prior criminal acts” and when officers arrived at the hotel, officer Steven Conroy showed a photo of the man to the front desk clerk, who said it appeared to be the same person.

Police went to the room to investigate, but the man escaped and they began to chase him, according to the lawsuit. Johnson, who was almost to his Somerville home, saw the man jog past him before Conroy approached and yelled at both men to “get the (expletive) on the floor.”

The white suspect got on his knees, but Johnson stayed standing, the lawsuit says. After that, Johnson says Conroy drew his gun, threw him to the ground and pinned him down with a knee on his neck.

[DFW]

4. I hope the offending cop gets charged

Aggravated assault and battery, and the maximum sentence allowed.

No severe penalty, no message delivered.

[EnergizedLib]

5. Unbelievable

Last edited Fri Aug 5, 2022, 09:03 AM - Edit history (1)

So, I guess in their warped minds being black is a crime? That’s what it boils down to?

Ahmaud Arbery is dead for no reason, it appears Donovan Johnson was apprehended for no reason. It seems they knew beforehand their suspect was white, but look, a black person.

January 6 exposed Blue Lives Matter for what it is. It’s not that Blue lives matter to them, it’s that Black lives don’t.

[Lonestarblue]

10. Brianna Taylor was killed for no reason. Tamir Rice was killed for no reason.

When will we demand that white supremacists be removed from police forces? Racial bias doesn’t contaminate everything in this country, but it is pervasive and it’s getting worse. Trump opened the door, and stirred up as much racial hatred as possible. His acolytes in the Republican Party are continuing the job for him.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

7. Will it ever stop?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

9. Cops doing cop things.

[FailureToCommunicate]

11. This same town, Arlington, had another racist incident, where a Black woman

was picking up a box of items from the town email list offering "free stuff" to other residents. Some Karen type called the cops, seeing this Black person go up to the porch to retrive the items the resident had offered her... The police arrived and threw her again their car and yelled stuff at her...all in front of her daughter.

Just awful. Poor kid - and her mom of course- scarred for life.

[Marthe48]

15. Did the cops think their suspect magically changed color?

What idiots. Are the cops being trained to jump black people, just because they are in front of their eyes? I hope Mr. Johnson takes the cops and the city to the cleaners.

[llashram]

16. we now have a racistly

depraved nation with PIGS like this allowed to carry a gun under the authority of a badge... I just feel heart sick every day now at how this nation has turned from citizens trying to accept the differences in our neighbours to a sizable minority with nothing but HATE in their hearts. Who follows a dangerous sexual predator grifter as a leader...