Like a scene out of Selma or Birmingham in the 1960s, Alabama police officers attacked a Black man on his own property, allowing a K-9 to maul him for the non-crime of observing police activity in his neighborhood.
“Bite him! Bite him! Get him! Bite him! Good!” said Sheffield police officer Nick Risner, who was holding the dog by its collar as he encouraged the dog to maul the defenseless Black man while the other cops yelled, “Stop resisting!”.
Body camera footage shows Marvin Eugene Long, 53, was not resisting as he pleaded for the cops to stop abusing him during the 2021 arrest.
“I ain’t doing nothing,” he cried. “Bro, I give up, c’mon, man. Guys, I live here.”
Long, 53, a disabled military veteran, was charged with two misdemeanors, resisting arrest and obstruction, which are commonly known as “contempt of cop” charges, used by cops to punish citizens who may question their authority, which is protected by the First Amendment.
Despite video evidence that Long was only exercising his right to observe police activity from a public street without interfering, Long was convicted of resisting arrest by a municipal judge in a bench trial, while the obstruction charge was dismissed. He then filed an appeal with the circuit court to reverse the conviction.
On Tuesday, Colbert County District Judge Mitchell Hays dismissed the resisting arrest charge – almost four years after the violent arrest that still affects him today.
But none of the officers or deputies from the Sheffield Police Department and the Colbert County Sheriff’s Office was ever disciplined, much less criminally charged.
However, one Sheffield officer has since been convicted of assaulting another Black man last year in a separate incident.
And Risner, the Sheffield cop ordering the dog to attack Long, was killed in the line of duty in 2022.
Pending Lawsuit
Meanwhile, a civil lawsuit filed against cops from both agencies in 2023 remains pending.
“This was a grave miscarriage of justice that not only sent Marvin to jail unlawfully but also left his body permanently scarred from being mauled by a K9 dog similar to the children marching in Birmingham, Alabama, where dogs were sicced upon them and firemen used water hoses,” said one of Long’s attorneys, Harry Daniels, in a telephone interview with Atlanta Black Star.
“Similar to the peaceful protesters that were beaten and had dogs sicced on them on Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.”
“We are just thankful that the courts saw it our way, and we can move forward with his civil matter against the officers.”
Daniels’ references to Selma and Birmingham refer to the brutal attacks by police officers against peaceful Black protesters in those Alabama cities during the early 1960s who were demonstrating against segregation and Jim Crow laws that turned Black Americans into second-class citizens, not to mention the perpetual violence against Black people that is rarely taught in American schools.
Birmingham was where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail in 1963. The protests played a significant role in the passing of the Civil Rights Act in 1965, but unfortunately, there is still much work to be done.
Listed as defendants in the lawsuit are Sheffield police officers Darien Fountain and Brett Evans, as well as former Sheffield police officer Max Dotson, who was fired in 2023 after his initial conviction for assaulting a Black man, only for him to appeal the conviction and get convicted again by a circuit court judge in 2024. He was sentenced to time served and a $25 fine.
Risner, the cop who sicced the dog on him, is not listed because he was killed a year before the lawsuit was filed.
Also listed as defendants are Colbert County sheriff’s deputies Tommy Mills, Bradley Skipworth, Tim Vanderford, Curtis Burns, Daniel Cruise, Tyler Evans and Jonathan Harkins.
The lawsuit accuses the cops of violating Long’s First and Fourth Amendment rights by arresting him on his own property for simply observing police activity as well as for trespassing on his private property to abuse him, leaving him with emotional distress and physical pain.
“The conduct alleged herein was done in willful, malicious, intentional, deliberate, or reckless disregard of Plaintiff’s constitutionally protected rights, welfare, and safety,” the claim states.
Watch the video below:
The Unlawful Arrest
It was about 1:10 p.m. on July 17, 2021, when Long observed a police car blocking the street near his home, according to the claim.
He stepped outside and stood near the patrol car on the street, observing officers from the Colbert County Drug Task Force arresting two of his neighbors.
Sheffield police officer Brett Evens ordered Long to step away from his car, even though he never touched the car.
“You want to go to jail?” Evans threatened.
“For what? Standing in the road?” responded Long. “I ain’t doing nothing.”
But Long began walking back to his front porch while reminding the cops that he had the legal right to observe police activity in public.
“Kick rocks, motherf_cker,” Colbert County sheriff’s deputy told Long after he had asserted his rights.
Long was standing on his front porch when a group of officers and deputies walked onto his property without a warrant to arrest him on the fabricated charges.
“Go, man,” Long told the officers as they approached his front porch.
However, the cops rushed him as he tried entering his home and began attacking him.
“You must think we’re f-cking stupid,” one of the cops said as Long yelled out, “Help!”.
Risner then ordered his police dog to attack Long, evidently taking sadistic pleasure in hearing Long cry out in pain.
“Mr. Long was bitten by the Police K9 on the same leg that he had surgery on to replace his bones with ‘rods,’” the lawsuit states. “Subsequently, Mr. Long was placed in handcuffs.”
“At this point, Mr. Long needed medical attention from the dog bite and the attack from the Defendants. However, Defendants took Mr. Long to jail for booking. Subsequently, Mr. Long went to Shoals Hospital and North Alabama Medical Center because of the dog bite on his left leg, knot on his head, and back pains.”
“As a result of the assault, Mr. Long sustained physical injuries and permanent scarring to his body,” the lawsuit states.
“Additionally, Mr. Long also suffered emotional injuries and damages as a result of the Defendants’ unlawful and unconstitutional acts.”
