At least eight deputies with the Los Angeles sheriff’s department have been dismissed for their roles in the arrest and beating of a transgender man in February 2023, the Los Angeles Times reports. An FBI investigation remains ongoing.
Deputy Joseph Benza III, the main officer involved in the incident with then 23-year-old Emmett Brock, pleaded guilty in federal court last week to one felony count of deprivation of rights under the color of law, which carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.
Benza and his terminated colleagues were alleged to have covered up details from the incident, including the reason for pulling Brock over on 10 February 2023, among other information.
The department confirmed last week that others besides Benza had been removed but did not specify how many, according to the Times. Six unnamed sources from within the agency then told the Times that eight deputies, including several sergeants, had been fired.
In a statement announcing Benza’s guilty plea, the Los Angeles county sheriff Robert G Luna said that the deputy’s conduct “undermine[s] the integrity of our Department, the trust of our community, and the safety of those we are sworn to protect”.
“It is deeply troubling that a member of our Department, who has since been relieved of duty, violated the trust placed in them to uphold the law by abusing their authority,” Luna said.
Benza is due back in court on 17 January. In a statement to the Guardian, his attorney, Tom Yu, said he will ask the court for probation.
“I strongly stand behind my client and his decision to take accountability for this incident,” said Yu, adding that although Benza’s initial use of force was justified, “the before and after use-of-force conduct impacted the calculus of the evaluation of the takedown and the eventual arrest of [Brock]”.
As Brock was leaving his job as a high school teacher in February 2023, he drove by Benza engaged in what looked like a heated exchange with a woman on the side of the road. Brock gave the middle finger as he passed, and seconds later, Benza began following him closely in a squad car.
As Benza followed Brock for nearly two miles, prosecutors allege, he called another deputy to say he planned to stop someone who had flipped him the middle finger and intended to use force. He is alleged to have abandoned a domestic violence call in order to follow Brock.
Video provided by Brock’s lawyer to the Times shows him pulling into a 7-Eleven parking lot and getting out of the car. Benza then approached him, saying: “I just stopped you” without saying why, then grabbed Brock’s arms and took him down to the ground.
“What the fuck are you doing? Get the fuck off me,” Brock is heard shouting in the video. As Benza struggles to pin him down, Brock is heard screaming for help, saying: “You’re gonna kill me!” At one point, Benza tells him to get his arms behind his back. “You have my hands,” shouted Brock. “I’m trying to get my hands behind my back.”
Benza struggles to hold Brock down and punches him for about three minutes while Brock says, “I’m not resisting”, according to the Times video.
Brock, who suffered bruises, scrapes and a concussion from the incident, was charged with three felonies and one misdemeanor. He also alleged that during booking, officers asked to look at his genitals and questioned whether he should be considered male or not, even though his identification said male. Brock was later released from the Norwalk sheriff’s station on $100,000 bail.
All charges against Brock have been dropped and a judge formally declared him innocent, according to the Times.
As the investigation began, signs showed that details from Benza’s account contradicted other evidence and that he appeared to obstruct the investigation with the help of other officers.
In the initial incident report, the officer said Brock appeared about to punch at him first. He said nothing about Brock giving the middle finger, claiming instead that he had pulled Brock over for a dangling air freshener. Benza also said that Brock bit him and “attempted to rip the skin from [his] hand”, but medical reports noted no bite marks.
Prosecutors alleged that as the case gained more media coverage, Benza exchanged group text messages with colleagues in which they agreed to delete information from their personal phones. A sergeant’s directive for Benza to “toss the phone” was passed along via group chat.
Benza initially told investigators that he did not see anyone give him the middle finger. He also said that Brock had bitten him and that he did not discuss the incident report with anyone else. But in his plea agreement, he admitted that he had discussed the report with others and that a sergeant had written “substantive portions” of it for him.
As the investigation continues, Brock and his lawyer, Thomas E Beck, have a pending federal case against Los Angeles county, Benza and other deputies alleging false imprisonment, civil rights violations and assault and battery.
NBC News reported that Brock was let go from his teaching job three days after the arrest but is now working at a homeless shelter and graduating this spring with a master’s degree from California State University, Fullerton.
“There’s a lot of anxiety still. Even when I just drive my car every day, I am worried about being pulled over and being beaten, and I’m not sure if that’s ever going to go away,” he told NBC on 18 December. “But this outcome brings me a little bit of peace of mind, as much as it can.”
