In 2013, a Chicago pastor was beaten by police in front of her kids. After years of investigating, CBS Chicago obtained dashcam video last week that shows officers lied about the details of that night.
According to CBS Chicago, the pastor, Catherine Brown, was driving toward her driveway when she saw a squad car speeding toward her without any lights or sirens on. The officers got out immediately and begin yelling at the woman and her kids.
The officers, Michelle Morsi Murphy and Jose Lopez, used the squad car to block Brown from going into her driveway.
“It startled me,” Brown says. “I reached for my license … The other officer takes the gun and points it at the front of my head.”
Brown responded by calling 911 to ask for some sort of assistance. The video shows that the woman asks for a lieutenant and police to come and help. However, the cops continue to agitate her.
At one point, officers forced open her door, dragged her out, and pepper sprayed her. The footage shows the officers hitting Brown while Lopez is seen in the background laughing.
The pastor told reporters that the officers “beat me down to my underwear, pulled my skirt off me,” Brown says. “They beat me with the sticks and hit me with their boots in my head.”
The Citizens Police Data Project reports that Officer Murphy has 19 previous complaints for misconduct and Officer Lopez has 21.
Brown has decided to take legal action against the officers and police department for the alleged police brutality.
