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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Excessive Force

Plainclothes police officers who approached a black man with their weapons drawn and tased, pepper sprayed and arrested him — without probable cause — are not entitled to qualified immunity on excessive force claims, the Sixth Circuit ruled. The man initially thought he was about to be robbed. 

CINCINNATI — Plainclothes police officers who approached a black man with their weapons drawn — tased, pepper-sprayed and arrested him without probable cause — are not entitled to qualified immunity on excessive-force claims, the Sixth Circuit ruled. The man initially thought he was about to be robbed. 

The man also has sufficient evidence to support his municipal liability claim against the city, because the use of a Chris Rock video titled “How not to get your ass kicked by the police!” during police training, along with other images used during training, were “highly inappropriate for law-enforcement instruction.”

Categories / Appeals, Civil Rights, Government

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