Emmett Brock
Emmett Brock is an American, living in Whittier, California, who was severely beaten during what Sheriff's Deputy Joseph Benza called a traffic stop.[2]
Brock is a teacher, undergoing gender transition.[3][4] The Young Turks described Brock stopping at a Seven-eleven, only to have Benza almost immediately pin him to the ground, and subject him to a brutal beating. That beating was captured on the store's surveillance system, and Brock's lawyer released a version synched to the audio from Benza's body-cam.
The video shows Benza making impossible demands of Brock, then subjecting him to blows to the head, when he didn't comply.[3][4] One impossible demand was that Brock put his hands behind his back, ignoring Brock's explanation that Benza had already pinned his arms beneath his chest. Benza beat Brock severely enough that he fractured his own wrist.
After his superiors reviewed the footage they endorsed Bemba's use of force.[3][4] According to the Los Angeles Times newly elected Sheriff Robert Luna had run on a platform of reform, and had taken a harder line in two other abuse of force incidents.[5]
References
- ↑ Nina Golgowski (2023-07-24). "Video Shows Deputy Body-Slamming Trans Man After Driver Allegedly Flipped Him Off". Yahoo Finance. Archived from the original on 2023-07-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20230725150726/https://nz.finance.yahoo.com/news/video-shows-deputy-body-slamming-223211504.html?guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAACxufVZeP-g2NorA2zQLj7wvOXfhteeLHFuvdKd6S85HA9jCvgJU96HXYvlUam1BDHqnsRNMEOq7sfTcRlqJNGtGqmaZ0ZPsVsuV83eoNGx5971Bf-p080z0Pn_9Tz78BiJsyjMH_u0HIJH18VGw1T_i_UyBVZYbpbe0E9AYymuk. Retrieved 2023-07-25. "The man, identified as Emmett Brock, screams for help while pinned face-down beneath the deputy, who shouts for him to put his hands behind his back. 'I can’t, you have my hand!' Brock repeatedly shouts. 'I’m not resisting. Stop, stop!'"
- ↑ Molly Sprayregen (2023-07-24). "A police officer brutally attacked a trans man for having an air freshener hanging in his car: Emmett Brock's life has been ruined after Joseph Benza punched him repeatedly for three minutes". LGBTQ Nation. Archived from the original on 2023-07-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20230725031027/https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/07/a-police-officer-brutally-attacked-a-trans-man-for-having-an-air-freshener-hanging-in-his-car/. Retrieved 2023-07-25. "Deputy Joseph Benza tackled 23-year-old high school teacher Emmett Brock to the ground after following him into a 7-Eleven parking lot. Surveillance video of the incident, combined with audio from the officer’s bodycam, shows that despite the fact that Brock continued to scream for help and assure the officer he was not resisting, the officer would not let up."
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "LA Cop BEATS Trans Man, Writes BONKERS Incident Report". The Young Turks's YouTube channel. 2023-07-24. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3hT5l8706g. Retrieved 2023-07-25.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Emmett Brock's lawyer called the violent cop a "thin-skinned thug."" (video). The Young Turks. 2023-07-24. Archived from the original on 2023-07-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20230725030606/https://tyt.com/watch/the-young-turks/8ea9f9f2c1c7fe64b/clips/5cc656534dfd2400. Retrieved 2023-07-25.
- ↑ Keri Blakinger (2023-07-23). "‘I can’t die like this’: Video shows trans man beaten by deputy during stop". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2023-07-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20230725153928/https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-07-23/video-trans-man-beaten-la-county-sheriff-deputy. Retrieved 2023-07-25. "That was in February. Brock is now jobless and still facing criminal charges, all stemming from a traffic stop the deputy said was based on an air freshener he’d spotted hanging from Brock’s rearview mirror."
