Black Man sues city after he says Grand Rapids police assaulted him

A Grand Rapids man accuses police officers of assaulting him because he spoke out against them. Now, he's suing the city for more than a million dollars. The story began June 13, 2003 when African-American residents gathered at a Grand Rapids church to talk about their relationship with the police chief and sheriff's department. The meeting followed the death of a young black man at the Kent County Jail and the subsequent violence that followed. One of the people who spoke that night was Lance Mallett who complained about police harassment. At one point while speaking to the crowd, Mallett got into a testy exchange with the police chief. Two days later, police officers showed up at his home and arrested him for failing to appear in court on a housing code violation. Mallett says the officers cuffed him, beat him, then sprayed him with mace. Witnesses 24 Hour News 8 found two weeks after the incident back his story. “He sat on the floor and they handcuffed him. Then they started to spray mace in his eyes…not no one time or two times, but they just was like spraying it in his eyes,” said one witness. “They just was like choking him and slamming around on the car,” added another. Police deny beating him, but say Mallett forced officers to take action because he resisted arrest. So, Mallett filed a federal lawsuit, accusing police of excessive force and violating his First Amendment rights. Mallet and his attorney say the arrest was revenge for him speaking out at the meeting. [more]