Prosecutors in Oklahoma announced formal charges Monday against two men accused in the “vicious, racist” beating of a Black man outside a bar in Shawnee last month.
The county district attorney also released video of one suspect trying to injure himself, pummeling his own face in an apparent attempt to claim self-defense, according to the Shawnee News-Star.
Suspects Brandon Killian, 28, and Devan Johnson, 28, are facing several charges in the violent attack that left Jarric “Shawn” Carolina fighting for his life. Carolina, 36, and a friend were ambushed by the two men outside the BrickHouse Saloon in Shawnee on June 22.
Both are charged with felony aggravated assault and battery in the beating, along with a count of felony conspiracy. Prosecutors also charged the men with malicious intimidation or harassment, a hate crime charge, after they say Killian and Johnson sought to harass Carolina because of his race.
Much of the assault was caught on video, and a witness recalled hearing the suspects shout slurs and “white power!” before fleeing the scene.
“It’s almost like they waited until everyone that my husband was with left, except for his one friend,” Carolina’s wife, Jamie, told Atlanta Black Star last month, saying the video showed the suspects “were ready to fight.”
“They had time to think about it and knew what they were going to do,” she added.
Killian, who was already on parole for a previous offense, also faces a felony charge of preparing false evidence after he was caught on video punching himself in the face repeatedly in a police interview room, before officers could take photos of his injuries.
When the officer briefly stepped out of the room for a camera, prosecutors say the suspect delivered at least 20 blows to his own cheek.
“It shows him striking himself repeatedly in an attempt to create the defense that he had been injured in the encounter and was engaged in self-defense,” said Pottawatomie County District Attorney Allan Grubb said of the video. “Lying to police and creating a false story will not be tolerated and Mr. Killian has been charged accordingly.”
“As a community, we will not tolerate racist behavior such as occurred here,” he added. “We stand united that this type of behavior be met with the full force of the law.”
Killian remains jailed at the Oklahoma County Jail, where he’s being held on charges stemming from an unrelated drug court case there, the Star-News reported. Meanwhile, Johnson has been released on bond.
Carolina, who suffered a concussion, a broken rib and several other injuries in the attack, was flanked by his family as prosecutors announced the charges on Monday, although an attorney, Edward Maguire, who is serving formally as a victim’s advocate in their case, spoke on their behalf.
Watch more in the video below.