Lawyer says Arrest of Brandon Johnson is Retaliation for Lawsuit Against Indianapolis Police

From [HERE] and  [HERE] A Black teenager whose beating at the hands of white Indianapolis police officers spurred protests by community groups and aggravated racial tensions has been arrested on drug- and gang-related charges.

Indianapolis Metropolitan police said they arrested 16-year-old Brandon Johnson and two of his older brothers Wednesday night at a home on the city's east side where they found marijuana, a handgun and items with gang insignia as well as gang photos and paperwork and a police scanner.

A police report says Johnson and his brother, Miketavious Jackson, 19, face preliminary charges of felony and misdemeanor possession of marijuana and felony criminal gang activity, according to The Indianapolis Star.

Johnson's other brother, Terrell Jackson, 18, faces preliminary charges of misdemeanor dangerous possession of a firearm and felony criminal gang activity.

Johnson's two brothers were being held Thursday at the Marion County Jail pending March 15 court hearings, said jail spokesman Julio Fernandez. While Johnson is being housed at the county's juvenile center, Lara Beck, the spokeswoman for the county prosecutor's office, told WXIN-TV that no decision has been made on whether to waive the teen into the adult criminal justice system.

Johnson's attorney, Stephen Wagner, said police targeted his client unjustly. "We have serious questions about both of these charges, about the entire police action," he told Massee.

 Wagner said 14 officers stormed the house and that charges against Johnson are retaliatory. Wagner claimed that the only gun in the house was properly registered and that he suspects the gun charge was related to a cell phone picture of a gun.

 Wagner also claimed that the criminal gang activity charge related to a sweatshirt Johnson was wearing in memoriam of a friend who died in a shooting.

Wagner said Johnson's mother has been harassed, was pulled over recently and held for an hour with no charges filed.

"Police cars driving by at all hours of the night, slowly stopping in front of the house. Mrs. Chandler being pulled over in her car recently and questioned for over an hour before being released without any charges. We see a pattern of harassment," Wagner said.

Wagner said Johnson is being charged as an adult. He was being held in a juvenile facility on Thursday.

"We are working with the city, or attempting to work with the city, toward resolving that claim, but there is a rift between the police and the chief and the mayor, and the police themselves, apparently, are trying to take this matter into their own hands," Wagner said.

Officer Jerry Piland and the other three officers directly involved in Johnson's arrest and beating last May are white.

Chief Paul Ciesielski had sought Piland's firing in Johnson's beating, saying the officer needlessly struck the teen several times during the arrest, leaving him with gaping wounds on his swollen face and a black eye.

Ciesielski called the teen's condition after the arrest "one of the worst" he had seen in 24 years with the force.

The sight of Johnson's swollen eye, facial bruises and chipped teeth aggravated racial tensions in Indianapolis and spurred debate over the appropriate use of force. The arrest prompted an internal investigation and an FBI probe, spurred protests from ministers' groups and brought civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton to Indianapolis.

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