*The owner of an Alabama liquor store is suing the city of Decatur after he was physically assaulted by law enforcement responding to his robbery call.
Kevin Penn, who is Black, called police after tapping a shoplifter inside his liquor store. He held the suspect at gunpoint while waiting for officers to arrive. According to ABC 7, surveillance video shows Penn unloading his gun and setting the gun magazine down as cops approach.
Body camera video shows an officer walking past the suspect and telling Penn to put down his weapon. Penn replies, “I have a right to have my gun.”
An officer identified as Justin Rippen, who is white, then punches Penn in his jaw and he is wrestled to the ground by officers and handcuffed. Penn was arrested and charged with obstructing a robbery investigation. He reportedly spent six weeks with his jaws wired shut.
He is now taking legal action over the March 2020 incident that left him with a broken jaw.
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Kevin Penn, a 47-year-old Black liquor store owner in Decatur, Alabama, called the police to report a robbery. The police arrived, punched Penn (the store owner) and wrestled him to the ground, breaking his jaw and some of his teeth.https://t.co/rW8oaAzXvM pic.twitter.com/xW0mDr6jFE
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) June 24, 2020
The suit alleges Penn’s encounter with police is an example of systematic use of “excessive force” by the Decatur Police Department that the city often ignores.
Here’s more from ABC 7:
The lawsuit alleges Penn’s constitutional rights were violated by illegal seizure, false arrest and excessive force, seeking money damages. The lawsuit alleges the city regularly receives complaints that officers “react with unjustifiable violence and false charges when a citizen speaks up or otherwise asserts his rights as an American citizen.” The suit also accuses officers of “using common charges like obstructing governmental operation, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest” against local citizens.
“It is well known in the Decatur legal community that Decatur officers frequently use these charges, commonly referred to as POP (p— off police) charges, without a legal basis,” the lawsuit states.
The misdemeanor charges against him are still pending.
Rippen wasn’t disciplined for using excessive force and the incident wasn’t investigated until the violent video became public three months after it happened, according to the report.
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