Damien Smith says he got here house one night time in October 2021 to search out an intruder burglarizing his home. When the police arrived, they tased him as a substitute of the intruder. Smith, who’s black, has now filed a lawsuit in opposition to the officers, claiming that they racially profiled him and violated his civil rights.
The officers “racially profiled Mr. Smith, and acted pursuant to LAPD insurance policies and practices that enable and encourage officers to over-react to black folks, whom they wrongly assume to be criminals,” the 24-page swimsuit argues.
Smith is an actor and filmmaker recognized for his appearances in The Purge and Snowfall. Smith had even been working on a documentary about police brutality when he had his personal police encounter on October 13, 2021. In line with the swimsuit, when he entered his home round 12:30 a.m., he caught an intruder within the technique of burglarizing his house. The intruder remained within the residence whereas Smith referred to as 911.
LAPD officers arrived round 1:30 a.m. and entered by means of the again door of Smith’s residence. In line with the lawsuit, police “unholstered their taser weapons, pointed them towards Mr. Smith, and screamed at Mr. Smith: ‘Get on the bottom!'” Smith protested saying, “I dwell right here, I referred to as 911!” LAPD officers subsequently tased Smith, hanging him within the chest and again. In line with a Los Angeles Occasions interview with Smith, when police tased him, the intruder used the chance to flee.
A number of LAPD officers then handcuffed Smith and walked him out to a patrol automobile. Outdoors, a small crowd of Smith’s neighbors had gathered, and a number of other instructed the officers that they “had arrested the incorrect individual” and that Smith “lived there.” Nonetheless, the officers positioned Smith within the patrol automobile and closed the door.
“The bodily ache, emotional misery and embarrassment that Mr. Smith endured by the hands of Defendant Doe Officer Guillen and different Defendant Doe LAPD officers stays to at the present time,” the criticism states. “This incident and harm occurred solely as a result of Defendant Doe Officer Guillen and different particular person and Doe defendant LAPD officers…did not fastidiously and completely examine the details resulting in Mr. Smith’s 911 name.”
The lawsuit alleges that the officers’ actions violated Smith’s First, Fourth, and 14th Modification rights and asks for damages to cowl medical bills and lawyer’s charges, in addition to particular damages for the emotional struggling the ordeal inflicted on Smith.
“I consider there was a racial element to this entire state of affairs, how the police handled me, how all the pieces was executed,” Smith instructed the Los Angeles Occasions. “I do not suppose it might have went down on this method if I used to be not African American.”
Whereas Smith’s tasing and arrest are outrageous, it is unclear whether or not his lawsuit will succeed. Cops are protected by expansive certified immunity, which makes holding police accountable for civil rights violations an uphill battle.
