An Indianola, Mississippi, police officer has been accused of violating the rights of two Mississippi citizens: one an active-duty Army staff sergeant and an 11-year-old boy whom the cop allegedly shot.
Two federal lawsuits have been filed against Greg Capers, alleging excessive use of force in both incidents.
Sgt. Kelvin Franklin claims that Officer Capers stunned him with a Taser, choked and pointed a gun at him while he was handcuffed on Dec. 30, 2022.
Franklin says that day, he was traveling with his then-fiancée’s cousin from Camp Shelby to her residence in Indianola.
Once they arrived in Indianola, there was some misunderstanding when Franklin got out of his car to get a parking decal that led his fiancée to call 911, his complaint says.
Franklin saw the driveway was blocked, according to the attorney, so he approached the cousin about moving it, but the fiancée thought they were arguing.
Franklin says that he tried to resolve the situation with the cousin, but that too was misinterpreted by his fiancée, whom he has since split with.
According to Franklin’s attorneys, by the time Capers and other officers arrived, Franklin attempted to explain that he was there to collect his belongings before returning to Camp Shelby. He also disclosed he had a firearm, which an unnamed officer confiscated.
This is when Capers drew his firearm, then his Taser, and struck Franklin multiple times before choking him, the lawsuit complaint states. A three-minute video shows that Franklin’s arms were at his side when he was tased.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO.
The complaint also says that Franklin requested medical attention due to pain and having a single kidney but was taken to Sunflower County Jail without treatment.
Franklin has since been deployed to Kuwait in May 2023. He says he is now concerned that the trauma he has experienced from the incident will interfere with his work and put his 16-year career in the military in jeopardy.
Months after Franklin’s incident and around the same time he was sent to the Middle East, the same officer shot the preteen, Aderrien Murry. For the incident involving the minor, Capers has been suspended from the Indianola Police Department.
Capers’ lawyer says he “did not mean to” do it, according to the Mississippi Free Press.
Now, both parties are represented by Carlos Moore in their pursuit of justice against an officer accused of abusing his power.
“In both instances, I believe both results would have been a lot safer if Greg Capers didn’t arrive at either scene,” Moore said to Mississippi Today.
“Mr. Franklin’s case preceded Mr. Murry’s case, and so the City of Indianola had noticed that Greg Capers was an ever-present threat and danger to the citizens of Indianola,” said Moore.
“They knew he had a propensity to utilize excessive force. They did not punish him for what he did to Kelvin Franklin, and an 11-year-old was shot by Greg Capers several months subsequent to that.”
Aderrien’s mother has filed a $5 million federal lawsuit on her son’s behalf, alleging that Capers, who was called for assistance in a domestic situation, instead subjected her child to violence when he shot him.
Franklin filed his complaint on Aug. 28, seeking $500,000 in compensatory and punitive damages, attorney fees, interest, and a jury trial. The lawsuit also names the city of Indianola, Police Chief Ronald Sampson, and five unnamed officers. It asserts that Capers’ actions stem from the city and police chief’s policies and their failure to supervise and train officers on how to respond in high-crisis situations.
Cleveland, Mississippi, attorney Michael Carr, who is already representing Capers in the case regarding the middle schooler, declined to address Franklin’s case, saying he is unsure if his client has been served the paperwork.
