A Southern California sheriff’s deputy responding to a call about a white man trespassing in a private residential community ended up arresting and abusing a Black resident of that property after the white man accused him of harassing him.
Earlier this month, the Black man, Gregory Whaling, received a $498,000 settlement over the unlawful arrest that was caught on the deputy’s body camera. And the Riverside County sheriff’s deputy, Robert Glaser, has been fired.
Glaser’s attorney, Michael Williams, said the only reason Whaling received such a large settlement was because he is Black.
“This was a big nothing,” Williams told the Orange County Register.
“The fact is, unfortunately he had a cane, unfortunately he was a Black man … it was not a beatdown. In this case, his mouth caused his problem.”
The attorney’s reference to Whaling’s “mouth” refers to the fact that the Black man was standing more than 25 feet from the deputy and the other man when he dared exercise his First Amendment right to defend himself from the harassment allegation by telling the white man, “You don’t live here.”
That prompted Glaser to confront Whaling, who was walking with a cane and recovering from knee surgery.
Glaser: “Go over there, or you’re going to end up in the back of my car.”
Whaling: “I ain’t getting (expletive).”
Glaser: “You don’t think I will put you in the back of my car?”
Whaling: “I bet you won’t. Not with these (showing his two knees). I bet you won’t.”
Glaser: “Turn around and put your hands behind your back, you’re impeding my investigation, sir.”
Whaling ended up spending more than 11 hours in jail on a single charge of California Penal Code 148(a)(1), which applies to suspects interfering with an investigation or resisting arrest.
Riverside prosecutors dismissed the charge a month later. Whaling filed his lawsuit in September 2023, accusing the deputy of violating his First and Fourth Amendment rights as well as false imprisonment, assault, battery and intentionally leaving Whaling with emotional distress.
It is unclear if the other man, described in the lawsuit as an “unidentified homeless person,” was ever arrested or banned from the residential property. But what is clear from the body camera footage is that the deputy walked away from him to arrest Whaling. Watch the video below.
The Unlawful Arrest
The incident took place on Sept. 14, 2022, after Glaser responded to a call from a female resident not associated with Whaling about the white man.
Glaser began speaking to the man who told the deputy the women who had called on him were harassing him before he accused Whaling of harassing him.
“They want me out of here because I’m not of age,” the man told the deputy. “It’s a 55 and over [community].”
“Do you live here?” the deputy asked.
“Well, yes and no,” he responded. “Technically, I’m not on the lease, and I’m not a registered guest, but I am an invited guest by my client.”
He told the deputy he had been living there since July 2020 and had been getting “harassed” by several residents for walking around shirtless.
“There’s no laws in California telling me I have to keep a shirt on,” he said. “And he’s worried about me being seen by the children over here without a shirt on.”
“This guy right here,” the white man told the deputy, pointing to Whaling who was walking his dog with his longtime partner.
Whaling, who realized he was being accused of harassment, spoke up, telling the white man he did not even live there.
“I do live here,” the man responded. “Shut up!”
That was when the deputy walked away from the white man to harass, abuse and arrest the Black man.
“You’re going to be in trouble,” said Whaling after he had been handcuffed. “Your ass is going to be in trouble.”
Turns out, he was right because Glaser’s LinkedIn page indicates he left the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office in January 2024 after 15 years, and is now working in sales.
