Three law enforcement officers who terrorized a Black man and left him brutally injured, were indicted by the Wake County grand jury.
North Carolina State Highway Patrol troopers Michael Blake and Tabitha Davis and Sheriff Deputy Cameron Broadwell were each indicted on felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon and willfully failing to discharge duties. The officers were also indicted for inflicting serious bodily injury, according to the News Observer.
“I am grateful, thankful and anticipating the outcome,” said the victim Kyron Dwain Hinton in a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
29-year-old Hinton, who was homeless at the time, was beaten with flashlights by the officers and by his own account suffered at least 20 dog bites on April 3. He was seen walking after losing his money at a sweepstakes parlor. The warrant claimed Hinton was yelling in the roadway and pointing his hands in the air as if he had a gun. Hinton told the News Observer, he was angry after losing his money.
“I was angry,” he said. “I didn’t say I wasn’t, and I was moving my arms and hands from side to side, but not with a threatening action.”
Hinton said he was surrounded by the troopers, pushed up against the patrol car, beaten and attacked by the canine. He suffered a broken nose and eye socket and memory loss due to the incident.
Courtesy of Diana Powell with NC Justice Served
“When you see the video, all conversation ends,” the 29-year-old said, referring to the bodycam footage.”You see how quickly the DA dropped the charges against me. You see how quickly they were indicted. It speaks for itself.”
Nevertheless, the North Carolina Police Benevolent Association was “extremely disappointed” because Deputy Broadwell was not allowed to testify.
John Midgette, who’s the executive director of the association stated, “We are extremely disappointed in opposition to our member’s request to personally testify before the Grand Jury… The actions of officers are often made in a split second during rapidly evolving circumstances in matters where the officer’s sworn duties command their presence. …. Of course, the district attorney controls the grand jury and apparently sees no difference in this case and any other criminal suspect.”
Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman, dropped the charges of disorderly conduct, resisting a public officer and assault on a law enforcement animal against Hinton and initiated the State Bureau of Investigation after Hinton questioned the officers’ behavior.
All three officers have been placed on administrative duty until patrol conducts their own investigation, the news outlet reported.
Sheriff Donnie Harrison said in a statement that he has “full confidence in our judicial system and look forward to this being resolved in court.”