MONROE, La. – The graphic video of the body camera kept secret for more than two years shows a Louisiana state police officer hitting a black motorcyclist 18 times with a flashlight, an attack the soldier defended as “pain compliance.”
“I can’t resist! I can’t resist! Aaron Larry Bowman can be heard shouting at the images obtained by The Associated Press. The May 2019 beating after a traffic stop left him broken with his jaw, three broken ribs, a broken wrist and a cleavage on his head that required six staples to close.
Bowman’s encounter near his Monroe home came less than three weeks after soldiers from the same agency attacked, stunned and dragged another black motorcyclist, Ronald Greene, before dying in police custody in a country road in northeast Louisiana. The video of Greene’s death remained similarly before AP obtained it and released it earlier this year.
Federal prosecutors are examining both cases in an ever-expanding investigation into police brutality and the possible cover-ups involving both soldiers and state police.
State police did not investigate the attack on Bowman until 536 days after it occurred, although he was captured on the body’s camera, and only did so weeks after Bowman filed a civil lawsuit.
State police released a statement Wednesday saying Jacob Brown, the white soldier who beat Bowman, “participated in excessive and unjustifiable actions,” did not report the use of force to his supervisors, and “intentionally maligned.” video camera of your body.
Prior to resigning in March, Brown counted 23 incidents of use of force dating back to 2015: 19 of them targeted black people, according to state police records.
Aside from federal investigation, Brown faces state charges of second-degree drumming and abuse in Bowman’s beating. He also faces state charges in two other violent arrests of black motorcyclists, including one he boasted last year in a group chat with other soldiers, saying the suspect “will be hurt” and “warms me up.” heart knowing we could educate that young man. “
The night Bowman was arrested for a traffic violation, Brown arrived at the scene after deputies had forcibly removed Bowman from his vehicle and brought him to the ground. The soldier later told investigators he was “in the area and trying to participate.”
With an 8-inch aluminum flashlight reinforced with a pointed end to break the car’s glass, Brown jumped out of his state police vehicle and began hitting Bowman in the head and body two seconds after the “contact initial “, triggering 18 strikes in 24 seconds. detectives wrote in an investigation report.
“Give me your hands ——!” Cried the soldier. “I’m not messing with you.”
Bowman tried to explain several times that he was a dialysis patient, that he hadn’t done anything wrong, and that he couldn’t resist, saying, “I’m not fighting you, you’re fighting me.”
Brown replied, “Close the day!” And “Don’t listen.”
Bowman can later be heard moaning, still on the ground. “I’m bleeding!” He said. “They hit me in the head with a flashlight!”
Brown, 31, later said Bowman had beaten a deputy and that the beatings were “compliments of pain” intended to get Bowman into the shackles. Investigators who reviewed Brown’s video months after the fact determined that his use of force was not reasonable or necessary.
Brown did not respond to several messages seeking comment.
Bowman, 46, denied hitting anyone and is not seen in the video being violent with officers. But he still faces a list of charges, including a police officer’s battery, resistance to an officer, and the traffic offense for which he was initially arrested, improper use of the lane.
Not only did Brown not report his use of force, but he mislabeled his images as a “citizen encounter” in what investigators called “a deliberate attempt to hide the video from any administrative review.”
Bowman’s defense attorney, Keith Whiddon, said he was initially told there was no video with a body camera.
The Louisiana American Civil Liberties Union said the video was another impetus for federal authorities to conduct an investigation called “pattern and practice” by state police.
“In the absence of federal oversight, LSP will continue to put Louisians at risk of violating constitutional rights,” said the group’s executive director, Alanah Odoms.
Robert Tew, the Monroe district attorney, declined to discuss Brown’s case or anything to do with state police. “We’ll see what the DOJ has to do,” he said during a brief interview outside his home.
Bowman himself had not seen the images until recently, when U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors showed him and his civil lawyer.
“I kept thinking he would die that night,” Bowman told the AP through a tear in a recent interview. “It was like reliving it all over again. Seeing it, I broke down again.”
“I don’t want anyone to pass it up.”