White Prosecutor Declines to File Charges Against White St. Paul Police Officers on Video Kicking Unarmed Black Man

From [HERE] Two white St. Paul police officers will not be charged with felony assault after an arrest captured on video shows one of them kicking a Black man, a prosecutor said Thursday.

Olmsted County Attorney Mark Ostrem, a white man, said there was "insufficient proof" the officers used unreasonable force. A video of the August arrest posted by a citizen on YouTube shows Officer Jesse Zilge kicking Eric Hightower as Hightower lay on the ground. Zilge was then able to handcuff Hightower, Ostrem said in a news release. 

The five-minute video starts (in broad daylight) with the beating already in progress, it shows a man, identified in a police report as Eric R. Hightower, 30, lying on his stomach on the sidewalk as an officer stands over him. Hightower yells that he didn't do anything and asks him why the officer has assaulted him. The officer is under no durress and almost appears casual in the scene -  he appears to be in no present danger. At one point, Hightower starts to cough and the officer kicks him in his face or his neck. Several people, including children, who gathered at the scene yelled at the officer. [MORE]

The officer handcuffs the man and with the help of another officer, gets him up and appears to slam his head on the hood of a squad car. An army of other officers then arrive. The voice of the person recording the video says, "He done sprayed him, maced him, tased him."Apparently, the white prosecutor gave little weight to the black witnesses accounts - whatever white police outlaws say is true so why even bother having a trial -bw. 

The prosecutor said Officer Matthew Gorans used chemical spray to subdue Hightower in the back of the squad car. Hightower was resisting being placed in the backseat of the squad car by two other officers, Ostrem said. Gorans crawled across the backseat, grabbed the handcuffed Hightower and pulled his upper body into the car and across the seat, but Hightower's feet were still outside the car. Gorans then sprayed Mace into Hightower's face and right ear, and the officers were able to get him completely into the seat, Ostrem said.
    
The prosecutor noted that Minnesota law authorizes law officers to use reasonable force when attempting to arrest a person. "The law is designed to prevent after-the-fact second guessing about the actions of officers on the streets who may have to make the decision to act quickly," Ostrem wrote.
    
In a statement, St. Paul Police Federation President Dave Titus said the prosecutor's decision shows that the officers "acted in good faith and according to their training."
    
"The officers relied on their training to control the situation," Titus said.
    
Zilge and Gorans were placed on paid administrative leave after the video appeared. They have since returned to work but are not on patrol.
    
St. Paul police spokesman Howie Padilla declined comment on the prosecutor's decision, saying there is still an internal investigation. He said no decision has been made on whether to refer the case to the St. Paul city attorney's office for possible misdemeanor charges.
    
Hightower, who is accused of threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend, has been charged with stalking, terroristic threats and criminal damage to property. Hightower's attorney, Seamus Mahoney, has said his client plans to sue over the arrest.
    
Mahoney did not immediately return a phone message for comment Thursday evening, but he has said Hightower was traumatized by the experience, and suffered ear pain, headaches and swelling in his chest.
    
Ramsey County referred the case to Olmsted County to avoid a conflict of interest.