In July 2014, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 21-year-old college student James King was walking to his internship. Suddenly, two men approached him. They shoved him aside and demanded that he tell them his name. When James responded, they snatched his wallet. (1/13)
James thought he was being mugged, so he fled. The men caught up with him. They tackled James and began to pound him in the head. (2/13)
James screamed for someone to call the police. Little did he know, that *was* the police. (3/13)
The “muggers'' were plainclothes officers looking for a petty theft suspect. James was the victim of mistaken identity. (4/13)
The beating continued, mercilessly. More pounding, then choking. “I feared for my life…everything went black,” James later recalled. (5/13)
You would think that once these bad cops had figured out they were assaulting an innocent man, they would stop. Think again. (6/13)
Uniformed officers showed up. They covered their tracks by closing ranks. They pressured witnesses to delete video evidence. They did all they could to shield the cops who brutalized James. (7/13)
James was taken to the hospital, handcuffed. Later he was transferred to a jail cell. He had a mugshot taken. James spent the night in a cold cell, his face swollen with bruises and streaked with tears. His family had to post $50,000 bail to get him out. (8/13)
But that wasn’t all. (9/13)
To his disbelief, James was charged with several felonies. Prosecutors offered James a plea bargain, but he refused. James stood by his principles, stood by the truth. He had done nothing wrong. A jury agreed—they cleared James of all charges. (10/13)
James’ fight for justice continued. He sued the violent cops who nearly killed him. Justice was denied: a court gave the officers qualified immunity. James appealed to the Supreme Court. Nothing. 7 years later, James’ case remains in limbo. (11/13)
The police have a duty to protect the public. Yet in many cases, such as James King’s, bad cops do the opposite. They terrorize innocent people and get away with it. The lack of accountability is unconscionable. James deserves justice. It’s time to #EndQualifiedImmunity. (12/13)
Listen to James King’s story, as told by James himself, on the #unaccountable podcast: pod.link/1566925549/epi… (13/13)
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