update: Deputy pleads guilty, abandoned dom violence call to chase down and beat trans person who flipped him off [View all]

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Big news story in 2023. the video the beating was widely spread.
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A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was supposed to respond to a domestic violence call — but chose to follow a man who flipped him off instead, then beat him in retaliation, according to federal prosecutors.

The man had a right to flash his middle finger at the deputy, as the expression is protected by the First Amendment, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said Dec. 18.

Joseph Benza III, 36, has agreed to plead guilty to using excessive force during the February 2023 beating, according to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He was charged with one count of deprivation of rights under color of law on Dec. 17, prosecutors said.

Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article297369434.html#storylink=cpy

Los Angeles County deputy admits violating transgender man's civil rights
Joseph Benza III was headed to a domestic violence call when he saw a man flip him off, prompting him to follow and eventually assault him, officials said.

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Benza told three unnamed sergeants that Brock gave him the middle finger, and all three counseled him to leave that information out of the incident report, the plea agreement said.

With the help of an unnamed sergeant, Benza concocted a phony account that Brock was "a threat to his physical safety" and then falsely stated that the victim had "bit defendant’s hand," according to the court documents.

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Brock said Wednesday that when he got the news about Benza's plea, he started sobbing.

"I'm very pleased with this outcome," he said. "I'm still in shock, and I just feel very lucky to have gotten justice for this when there's a lot of survivors of that [who] don't, so I'm just greatly appreciative of that."

Three days after he was arrested in February 2023, Brock lost his job as a 12th grade English teacher at an alternative school for at-risk youths.

He was unemployed for eight months until his substitute teacher license was renewed and he got a job with the Whittier Union High School District in December 2023.

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In a plea agreement filed the same day, Benza said he would admit to a single felony charge, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/l-sheriffs-deputy-pleads-guilty-015621286.html


Federal court filings made public this week tell a different story. According to prosecutors, just after noon Benza had received a call for a potential domestic disturbance, but he abandoned it when he saw Brock flip him off. Then he followed Brock’s car for 1.8 miles, at some point reaching speeds over 50 mph without ever attempting to initiate a traffic stop, according to the plea agreement.

At one point, prosecutors said, Benza called another deputy and told him he planned to stop someone who'd flipped him off. Benza said on the call he intended to use force against the person and asked the other deputy to start driving to his location.

Meanwhile, Brock — unnerved and fearing he was being followed by someone impersonating a police officer — called 911 and asked what to do.

The dispatcher told him he didn’t need to pull over unless signaled to do so, but Brock eventually parked in a 7-Eleven parking lot on Mills Avenue in Whittier and stepped out of his car. Video of the incident shows that the deputy approached him and said, “I just stopped you,” offering no explanation as to why.

“No, you didn’t,” Brock replied, according to an audio recording captured by the deputy’s body camera. Federal prosecutors said Benza then “violently body slammed” Brock into the ground.

For the next three minutes, Brock struggled and screamed as the deputy held him down and punched him in the head.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/l-sheriffs-deputy-pleads-guilty-015621286.html