A sheriff’s deputy in Georgia has been fired after being captured on video repeatedly punching a Black man during a traffic stop, authorities said Sunday.
An attorney for the man who was captured on video being repeatedly beaten by a sheriff’s deputy during a traffic stop in Georgia is demanding that his client be released from jail and called the county sheriff’s statement on the matter an attempt to deflect from his “lack of leadership.”
“Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill’s statement is just a weak attempt to deflect from his lack of leadership and continuous encouragement that his deputies violate peoples’ civil rights,” attorney Shean Williams of Atlanta said Sunday.
The incident happened when an unmarked police vehicle pulled over a vehicle for an alleged broken taillight, according to CBS affiliate WGCL-TV. Roderick Walker, 26, was a passenger in the back seat, along with his girlfriend, 5-month-old daughter, and a stepson, according to The Associated Press. Walker was asked to show identification, but he questioned the request because he wasn’t the driver. That’s when Walker was asked to exit the car and an arrest by two White deputies took place.
Video posted online shows one deputy repeatedly punching Walker in the face as he was pinned down.
Shit like this still happens everywhere. This happened today in #Atlanta in #ClaytonCounty. There no reason they needed to handle this man like this at all. #Fuck12 #BLM #ChangeTheSystem pic.twitter.com/i7BarNkeI4
— Korey Epps (@HardKBBM) September 12, 2020
He remains in custody. The sheriff’s office said he cannot be released on bond because he “has a felony probation warrant out of Fulton County for Cruelty to Children, Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, and a Failure to Appear warrant out of Hapeville.”
The sheriff’s office said Walker received x-rays which showed he had no fractured bones following the incident. He’s being monitored at the jail’s hospital. Reported by Business Insider.