The Los Angeles LGBT Center is calling for the suspension and investigation into the arrest of Emmett Brock by a Los Angeles County Sheriff deputy who used violent force to arrest the 24-year-old teacher, who is transgender. According to reports, a deputy tailed him for several blocks before the pair pulled into a 7-Eleven parking lot in Whittier. A security camera caught the pair’s encounter.
Both the deputy and Brock exited their vehicles soon after parking. The deputy told Brock to “come here” while approaching the 24-year-old’s car. The situation escalated after a brief back-and-forth debate about whether or not the deputy stopped Brock. Surveillance footage shows Brock being tackled to the ground and punched several times. According to the deputy, he was stopped over an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror.
The Los Angeles LGBT Center issued the following statement:
“Recently, video footage surfaced that shows a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy violently beating an unarmed trans man under the pretense of a routine traffic stop. The Los Angeles LGBT Center is calling for the immediate suspension of Deputy Joseph Benza pending a full investigation of this incident.
In the video, we see Emmett Brock, a 23-year-old high school teacher, being pinned down and beaten by Deputy Benza—despite showing no immediate signs of resisting arrest. Shockingly, the purported reason for Brock’s traffic stop was that he had an air freshener hanging in his rearview mirror. Brock suffered a concussion and lost his job as a result of the attack—and he still faces charges of resisting arrest and battery on an officer, despite evidence to the contrary. Brock also described a horrifying encounter while being taken into custody in which he was forced to “prove” his gender identity by showing his genitalia to officers.
It has long been clear that Los Angeles needs immediate reforms on police use of force, and that marginalized people bear the brunt of police-related violence. We demand the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department immediately suspend Deputy Benza and conduct a full and thorough investigation into this incident.
What is so troubling about this situation is that this officer was cleared of wrong-doing, and without this video footage being released, this violent encounter would likely have been swept under the rug. Our community—and the people of Los Angeles—deserve better.” —Joe Hollendoner, CEO of the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
Wow,all this over a rear view mirror air freshener. Was the driver speeding or making unsafe lane changes when he was stopped? I guess the deputy figured the driver was a wanted criminal.
I don’t know if excessive force was used or not. All I know is this never happens to somebody that doesn’t flip off an officer, doesn’t resist commands when being questioned and doesn’t resist arrest and doesn’t bite an officer. (according to reports Brock did all of the above) For the love of God people -please —whether you agree with the officer or not in the moment -follow their goddamn commands! You can’t control the officers actions but you can control your own! For anyone afraid of the police you can do some thing on your end to minimize the… Read more »
Watch the video. The fact that he flipped off the officer and he did this actually makes it worse he can loose his officer of peace license because that is a retaliatory attack. We all have the freedom of speech and that includes the middle finger at an officer yelling at a woman on the street. No one deserves to be beaten in the face and tackled to the ground because of a “air fresher” hung where it is supposed to be hung!
You seem to have missed my point entirely. You cannot control the actions of anybody else other than yourself. Whether someone has the right to flip off a cop or not is not the point. The point is when you do something like that you may run into a cop that reacts like this. Is it worth it? Ask the guy who got his ass kicked. Anyone with a half a brain would not do something like that not knowing how the cop is going to react. You are never going to control the actions of another. The only thing… Read more »
So it’s your belief that the best thing we could ALL do is ignore our first Amendment Right in order to not butthurt a cop…a sworn professional as they like to remind us…who might not care about the law but about his feelings?
B. S….I’m one of those guys who spent nearly 4 years in defense of those rights. That cop swore an oath to them. If they can’t follow them, then quit.