Current Events > Black man left paralyzed after Texas cops slam him into concrete

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/18/texas-police-christopher-shaw-civil-rights

Lawyers of a Black Texas man and civil rights activists are calling for justice after he was allegedly grabbed and slammed on to concrete ground by police officers at a jail in Beaumont, Texas, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down.

On Wednesday, lawyers of 41-year-old Christopher Shaw hosted a press conference that called for justice for Shaw, who was severely injured while in custody in June 2021.

According to a lawsuit filed last month, Shaw was arrested on 12 June 2021 over misdemeanor public intoxication charges after Beaumont police officer James Gillen found him standing in the middle of a roadway, in need of medical assistance. Shaw was then taken to a hospital to be evaluated before being transported to Jefferson county correctional facility in Beaumont where he was restrained for noncompliance.

Before entering the facility, Mr Shaw slightly turned his body. Defendant Gillen responded by attempting to slam Mr Shaw to the concrete platform at the rear entrance of the facility, the lawsuit said.
He landed on his head and fractured his spine in multiple places, the lawsuit alleges. Shaw asked for help from jail staff and employees of the jails medical contractor CorrHealth but they refused to help him, according to the lawsuit. When Shaw asked one nurse for assistance, she allegedly told him, I wont help you until you help yourself.

The lawsuit added that Shaw was left alone in his jail cell for approximately 20 hours before someone attended to him medically. While he was left alone in his cell, he defecated and urinated on himself multiple times due to his inability to control his bowels and kidney function, the lawsuit said. Only later was an ambulance called for him and he was taken to the hospital again where he underwent various emergency surgeries.

And of course the cops involved are trying their best to prevent the release of the video

What makes this case different is that while he's in jail, he's under the custody of the state and it makes them SIGNIFICANTLY more likely to be held liable for this than if this was outside.

It actually doesn't matter if they have or don't have evidence - if he walked into the jail and was paralyzed coming out, it's on the state unless they straight-up have video evidence of some kind of unavoidable, self-inflicted injury.

The common argument that police officers have no responsibilty to ensure your safety holds true outside of jail, but it doesn't once you're in

Why hello, Officer Pulaski. Nice to see you're still getting work since your stint in San Andreas in the 90s.

tag

DarkRoast posted...

What makes this case different is that while he's in jail, he's under the custody of the state and it makes them SIGNIFICANTLY more likely to be held liable for this than if this was outside.

It actually doesn't matter if they have or don't have evidence - if he walked into the jail and was paralyzed coming out, it's on the state unless they straight-up have video evidence of some kind of unavoidable, self-inflicted injury.

I remember seeing a video where the police shot and killed a guy in the jail and they all got off with little to no punishment

solosnake posted...

I remember seeing a video where the police shot and killed a guy in the jail and they all got off with little to no punishment

Obviously there's gonna be exceptions. But if we're comparing the odds, it's much higher when you're in jail or custody.

DarkRoast posted...

What makes this case different is that while he's in jail, he's under the custody of the state and it makes them SIGNIFICANTLY more likely to be held liable for this than if this was outside.

It actually doesn't matter if they have or don't have evidence - if he walked into the jail and was paralyzed coming out, it's on the state unless they straight-up have video evidence of some kind of unavoidable, self-inflicted injury.

The common argument that police officers have no responsibilty to ensure your safety holds true outside of jail, but it doesn't once you're in

hes black. Sadly I doubt the judges, especially Texas judges will give a shit. Its really messed up

Cops need to learn how to solve problems peacefully

Zikten posted...

Cops need to learn how to solve problems peacefully

That's not their job. Their job is to be boot on the neck of the proletariat.

I think probably it's the whole "left a terribly injured prisoner without medical care in a cell for 20 hours" that's gonna get them here. No possible way to justify that.

Zikten posted...

Cops need to learn how to solve problems peacefully

I think this is where I feel like things get very...unreasonable, though. Like, the idea that force is never necessary is just ignoring reality. We should be always looking for minimum necessary force.

I'm sure this is somehow antifa's fault, though. /s

COVxy posted...

I think this is where I feel like things get very...unreasonable, though. Like, the idea that force is never necessary is just ignoring reality. We should be always looking for minimum necessary force.

I don't disagree, but it certainly seems like cops will go out of their way to take white people alive. I know a lot of white people are also killed by cops, but there are certainly... stories about this.

HairyQueen posted...

The lawsuit added that Shaw was left alone in his jail cell for approximately 20 hours before someone attended to him medically. While he was left alone in his cell, he defecated and urinated on himself multiple times due to his inability to control his bowels and kidney function, the lawsuit said. Only later was an ambulance called for him and he was taken to the hospital again where he underwent various emergency surgeries.

They were trying to leave him to die.

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