Video shows traffic stop beating
Sheriff’s deputy fired for punching Black father
A sheriff’s deputy in Georgia has been fired after being captured on video repeatedly punching a Black man during a traffic stop, authorities said Sunday.
The deputy was let go for “excessive use of force,” the Clayton County Sheriff ’s Office said in a statement. It did not identify the deputy but said a criminal investigation has been turned over to the district attorney’s office.
Roderick Walker, 26, was arrested and beaten after Clayton County sheriff ’s deputies pulled over the vehicle he was riding in Friday for an alleged broken taillight, said his attorney, Shean Williams of The Cochran Firm in Atlanta.
Also in the vehicle were Walker’s girlfriend, their 5-month-old child and his stepson.
The deputies asked for Walker’s identification. He questioned why they needed it since he wasn’t driving, Williams said, which made the deputies upset. They demanded he get out of the vehicle.
The subsequent arrest, captured on video by a bystander and shared widely, shows two deputies on top of Walker, one of whom repeatedly punches him. Walker’s girlfriend screams and tells the deputies that Walker said he can’t breathe. A child in the vehicle yells, “Daddy.”
As Walker is handcuffed, the deputy who punched him tells the bystander that Walker bit him.
Williams said his client denies biting the deputy. Walker was trying to survive and lost consciousness at least twice during the beating, Williams said. A photo of Walker taken later in jail shows a welt under his left eye.
“My reaction to the video is that it just shows unfortunately another incident where an African American male’s civil rights have been violated by people and officers and law enforcement who have the duty first to protect and serve,” he said.
Walker later wobbles and appears to try to jerk free as deputies get him on his feet. He was arrested on suspicion of obstructing officers and battery, according to jail records.
Williams demanded his release on bond and said he has asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to review the case. He also accused investigators of improperly talking to his client without an attorney at the jail.
A person who answered a call to the sheriff’s office said he could not comment further, citing an ongoing investigation. He declined to provide his full name.
The sheriff’s office said in its statement a court denied bond for Walker because of outstanding warrants, including a felony probation warrant out of Fulton County for cruelty to children and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
It said Walker had received medical attention and was being monitored by a doctor at the jail hospital.