- Police Brutality Watch

NAACP Faults Bush and Ashcroft "Low Esteem for Civil Rights"

The U.S. Justice Department has cleared law officers in Nashville, Ark., of criminal wrongdoing in the death of a man in police custody. The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division reviewed the case and concluded no criminal prosecution was warranted. Specifically, the letter states Howard County Deputy Gary B. Cogburn and Nashville Police Officer Steve Dallas were cleared of any alleged civil rights violations after the September 2003 arrest of Larry "Nicky" Hill Jr., 27, of Nashville. The Hill family filed a civil rights complaint against the department for use of excessive force. Speaking on behalf of Hill's family, Arlington C. Dumas, president of the Flint, Mich., NAACP Branch, expressed his dismay at the Department of Justice's findings. "It is a sad day in the history for civil rights that the U.S. Department of Justice would come to that conclusion," Dumas said. For him, it was no surprise, though. "You have a Department of Justice leader, (U.S. Attorney General John) Ashcroft, who was appointed by Mr. Bush that has a low esteem for civil rights," Dumas said. [more

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According to reports, Hill fled from Dallas during the course of a routine field sobriety test. He was apprehended by Dallas and again resisted arrest by struggling and fleeing into a wooded area, reports state. Dallas sprayed Hill with pepper spray after he was apprehended a second time and cuffed Hill. The lawsuit contends that while trying to arrest Hill, Cogburn "unnecessarily and with unnecessary force" struck Hill in the right side of the head with his right fist. It was that injury, as well as officers' subsequent "refusal to obtain medical care" for Hill, that caused Hill's death, according to the suit. The results of an independent autopsy concluded that the ``manner of Hill's death should be ruled as homicide'' because his death occurred as a result of a violent struggle with police officers. [more ] and [more ]