Friday, February 23, 2007

Cherokee County Texas Deputy beats handcuffed black man; Cleared of excessive force

Alto, TX:
Cherokee County's Sheriff Department faced another civil rights lawsuit after Deputy Jamie Beene broke the ankle of former Alto high school football player John Brown for no legal reason.

Brown lives in the small town of Alto, and unfortunately was born black in East Texas. With nothing better to do on a quiet Spring night in the piney woods, Officer Jamie Beene spotlighted the property of John Brown's grandfather, ostensibly viewing an ongoing drug deal on the side of the road.
Even Sheriff James Campbell stands by his deputy's strange story, that John Brown was evading arrest, even though he was knocked down, handcuffed and bound, then his ankle shattered (requiring 3 plates and 16 pins).
Whodunit?:
Cherokee County's rising star Officer James Q. "Jamie" Beene, then patrolling the pocket change drug dealers in a rural area south of Alto, TX called the "Dope Tree." No mention of the fact that officer Beene was trespasing on private property. I guess the drug dealers went inside for a snack. Cherokee County District Attorney Elmer Beckworth offered to charge John Brown with something, like interfering with an "official investigation" according to the aforementioned news article. Sheriff Campbell repeated the story that Brown somehow "attacked" his deputy, even though Brown was hogtied at gunpoint. Elmer Beckworth offers no comment, and no real investigation, a' la his handling of Jennifer Hester being run down in her apartment complex.
The FACTS:
Officer Jamie Beene traveled out of his jurisdiction to the home of John Brown about 2 km south of Alto, TX. After seeing trespassers on his property in the middle of the night, John Brown goes out to check on his dogs. He was then jumped, handcuffed and beaten by officer Jamie Beene, along with members of Alto P.D. about 2 km out of Alto, TX jurisdiction, according to the news articles. John Brown's ankle was broken in the process. Why? What was the motive for this obvious racially motivated attack? Was it that his adjudicated probation was winding down?
Officer Jamie Beene has since been promoted to Deputy Sargeant, in Cherokee County Sheriff's so-called Narcotics Division. As of June 11, 2007 James Q. Beene is a Reserve Cherokee County Deputy by Commissioner Court approval. The Texas Rangers were called to "investigate" the beating of John Brown.
Instead of a reprimand, Officer Beene can pursue a fine career in Cherokee County. Officer Beene and the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department are facing civil rights violation suits filed in Marshall, TX by the Brown family (at the time of writing). Local Cherokee County media refuses to publish the contents of the suit. Instead the Jacksonville Daily Progress promoted the narco-wonder cops by publishing the seizure of 4 "blunts" and 1 oz. of marijuana. Still waiting to be impressed? They also have the glorious pastime of monitoring the dank rooms at the Trade Winds Motel in Jacksonville, TX.
The brutal beating of John Brown by Alto P.D. was also reported by The BrownWatch: News for people of color. Ice Cube gets his fact skewed in this expose but the gist is the same. Beat a black guy up, break his legs while he's hogtied, then charge him for evading arrest. That is the heart and soul of Cherokee County, read it for yourselves.
As a footnote, the Tyler Paper reports on March 29, 2007 that Sgt. Beene has been cleared of the brutality claims. Read the article carefully:
"(Sgt.) Beene was on the property searching for a suspect unrelated to their case and arrested (John) Brown on a charge of interfering with a police investigation. During the arrest, Brown said, his ankle was broken and he was beaten. Several witnesses' statements matched Brown's."
Same article Cherokee County Sheriff James Campbell says:
Officer "Beene was at a high drug trafficking area enforcing the law when Mr. Brown came onto the scene and interfered with his (Sgt. Beene's) job..."

So, according to the federal jury in Marshall, TX and Sheriff James Campbell, if get your ankle broke after being hogtied, because you have the audacity to confront a trespassing Cherokee County deputy, you deserve it. And the best thing to do is stay in your house like a frightened country Negro when you see the spotlights going across your property. Especially if you are black and you own property near a suspected drug drop. And expect to have every single phone call to and from your house to be tape recorded illegally forever.

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