Police investigators say 5 Arizona officers were justified in beating man

[demmiblue]

(CNN)The beating of a 33-year-old man by five Mesa, Arizona, police officers was justified, according to the results of an investigation released Monday.

The findings from the Scottsdale Police Department come three months after Mesa police officers punched and kneed Robert Johnson as he stood in the hallway of an apartment complex on May 23. The encounter was captured on surveillance video.

The Mesa Police Department, about 20 miles east of Phoenix, asked the Scottsdale Police Department to conduct an independent criminal investigation of its officers. Scottsdale officials said they "thoroughly reviewed eight On Body Camera videos which consisted of just over two hours of footage as well as the apartment complex surveillance video."

Based on their investigation, Scottsdale investigators determined "no criminal charges are warranted against the involved officers as the use of force was legally authorized and justified under Arizona State Law." Scottsdale officials also said the Maricopa County Attorney's Office agrees with their findings.

Benjamin Taylor, an attorney for Johnson, maintains that the beating was not justified.

"The video flatly contradicts the self-serving accounts of the police officers involved," Taylor said. "The use of government violence against cooperating citizens, who have committed no crime and who pose no threat, is a crime without justification or legal authorization."

Taylor also said that he will seek justice "before a civil jury."

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/28/us/mesa-arizona-police-no-charges/index.html