Agents fight release of video of slaughterhouse raid
Federal agents accused of targeting, mocking and, in some instances, brutalizing Latino workers at a Grainger County slaughterhouse claim their lives will be endangered by the public release of video from the raid, court records show.
Although the video is under seal, an investigation by the Tennessee Lookout uncovered testimony describing the footage as showing a U.S. Department of Homeland Security agent putting his boot on the neck of a Latino worker who was facedown on the floor with his hands behind his back and keeping it there for 24 seconds.
Attorneys for Agent John Witsell and dozens of other agents involved in the raid are asking a federal judge to bar the public release of the video footage and any mention in the court record of what the video depicts.
“Filing the video and (workers’ attorneys’) inflammatory remarks in the public record has the potential to prejudice potential jurors, provoke retaliation and place the agents … at personal risk,” attorneys for the accused agents wrote in a motion filed last week in U.S. District Court.
“Publicizing the video and (workers’ attorneys’) disputed and inflammatory description of it has the potential to subject the individually-named officers to violence or threats of violence in an already tense environment,” the motion continues. “The duties performed by DHS agents are dangerous enough without being subjected to provocative statements that, intentionally or unintentionally, invite condemnation and potential retaliation.”
Agents said under oath before now-retired U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Guyton they only intended to seek records supporting tax evasion charges against the slaughterhouse owner in the April 2018 raid. Instead, court records show, the agents for months had been planning what turned out to be the largest workplace immigration raid in Tennessee in more than a decade.
A half dozen Latino workers have since filed suit in U.S. District Court against the agents and the U.S. government, alleging a plot to violate their civil rights as part of then-President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to get tough on illegal immigration.
U.S. District Judge Travis McDonough has twice in his rulings questioned the credibility and motives of the dozens of heavily-armed agents who sealed off roadways leading to the slaughterhouse, stormed inside the plant with guns drawn and began targeting Latino workers — while allowing white workers and plant management to roam free.
McDonough ruled last year ample evidence exists to show federal agents concealed from Guyton the true purpose and scope of the raid, targeted Latino workers inside the plant solely based on their ethnicity, hurled race-based insults at them and used excessive force against at least two workers.
BOOT ON NECK
The attorneys who filed suit on behalf of a handful of the plant’s Latino workers are now seeking to certify the litigation as a class-action lawsuit, which would allow all slaughterhouse employees impacted by the raid to qualify for damages should a jury rule in their favor.
Motions seeking class-action certification and related exhibits, including video footage, are under seal, but U.S. Magistrate Judge Christopher Steger signaled in a ruling in late June he saw no basis for the documents to be hidden from the public. He gave attorneys for the agents two weeks to challenge that finding. Late last week, the agents’ attorneys responded with a motion specifically asking Steger to keep from the public the video footage included as an exhibit to the class-action certification documents.
The motion on behalf of the agents offered a clue about what that footage shows when arguing the workers intend to “analogize” what is shown on the video “to other national events that sparked destructive protests and physical violence against law enforcement.”
The Tennessee Lookout conducted a review of the more than 600 documents and exhibits already public in the case and found testimony about the video the agents seek to keep under wraps, which may show conduct analogous to the police killing in Minneapolis of George Floyd in May 2020.
In that case, bystander footage showed Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on the neck of Floyd, a Black man who was facedown on the ground with his hands behind his back and complaining he could not breathe. Chauvin has since been convicted of killing Floyd through that action. Release of that video spurred protests across the nation and helped fuel the Black Lives Matter movement.
Deposition testimony from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Francisco Ayala addresses the video.
“And in this frame, (Witsell) has his boot on the worker’s neck, correct?” Southern Poverty Law Center attorney Meredith Stewart asked Ayala in the deposition.
Ayala responded, “It looks like that.”
“During the period of time when (Witsell) had his boot on the worker’s neck, the worker’s hands were behind his back, correct?” Stewart asked. “Yes,” Ayala responded. “And the worker was facedown on the ground, correct?” Stewart continued.
Ayala answered, “Yes.” “So the … agent puts his boot on the worker’s neck at timestamp 9:09:35,” Stewart said. “The … agent removes his boot from the worker’s neck at timestamp 9:09:59, correct?” Ayala answered, “Yes.” “During this period of time, did you see a reason why the … agent needed to have his boot on the neck of the worker?” Stewart asked.
Ayala answered, “I didn’t even remember that. Looking at the video, there was no reason.”
“In your opinion, was it reasonable for the agent to place his boot on the neck of the worker?” Stewart asked.
Ayala replied, “No.”
“In your opinion, did the agent putting his boot on the neck of the worker constitute excessive force?” Stewart continued.
Ayala answered, “Yes.”
MEDICAL REASONS
Witsell has not yet responded to the allegations. Records show he has twice refused to appear for a deposition in the case, citing an undisclosed medical condition he says prevents him from both sitting for a deposition and responding to written questions about his behavior during the raid.
The Justice Department, which is footing the bill to defend all the other agents named in the lawsuit, has legally parted ways with Witsell. He is now represented by private attorney Mary Ann Stackhouse, a former deputy attorney for the Knox County Law Department.
Magistrate Judge Steger said in a recent ruling that he has reviewed medical records Stackhouse provided him under seal.
“Based on the information in such records, the court finds that Witsell does have a legitimate health problem that prevents his participation in (the) discovery (and deposition process) in this lawsuit at the present time,” Steger wrote.
Steger said in his ruling Witsell’s current “health problem is not relevant to the claims and defenses in this lawsuit” and “there is no question that Witsell possesses information that is relevant to the claims and defenses in this case, and that (workers) will be prejudiced by Witsell’s inability to provide answers to the questions posed by (workers’) counsel in discovery.”
Steger is now recommending that Judge McDonough bar Witsell from testifying in his own defense should the lawsuit make its way to a jury, bar any defense witnesses from using information provided by Witsell on behalf of his fellow agents and give jurors an “adverseinference instruction” that Witsell’s failure to appear for a deposition and answer questions could be considered against him in their deliberations.
“Here, the court finds that Witsell has failed to appear for his deposition and has further failed to fully respond to interrogatories and requests for production served upon him,” Steger wrote. “While he has presented a legitimate reason for his failure to cooperate in discovery, the situation, nevertheless, has the potential to prejudice (workers’) prosecution of their claims.”
It is not clear from court records whether Witsell remains employed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or whether any action has been taken against him in claims of excessive force.
The workers’ case is set for trial in February. Steger and, ultimately, McDonough, must first decide whether to certify the litigation as a class-action lawsuit and to issue rulings in various pre-trial motions before that trial date is confirmed.
Slaughterhouse owner James Brantley was not arrested the day of the raid, nor were two white supervisors, since identified in court records as brothers Carl Kinser and Jason Kinser. Brantley eventually struck a deal in 2019 to plead guilty to tax charges, admitting he dodged paying $2.5 million in payroll taxes. He was sentenced to 18 months, which he served at a work camp in Alabama. He’s been free since January 2021.
The Kinser brothers also struck plea deals in 2019 with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, confessing to charges of harboring illegal immigrants. They were ordered to spend three years under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office, but U.S. Magistrate Judge Clifton Corker wound up freeing them from that supervision nine months after it started.