Target: Hillar Moore III, District Attorney of Baton Rouge, LA
Goal: Seek maximum charges and penalty against police unit accused of excessive force if found guilty.
When a group of Mississippi police officers known as the Goon Squad pled guilty to torturing and sexually assaulting black men during the course of interrogations, many were shocked at the horrific circumstances. Now, in another state of the deep South, similar heinous allegations are emerging. The police department of Baton Rouge, Louisiana is facing several lawsuits and a civil rights investigation for alleged excessive force inflicted on suspects at the so-called Brave Cave.
The facility in question is a warehouse that members of the department’s Street Crimes Unit allegedly used to forcefully interrogate detainees they suspected of drug possession or similar offenses. Individuals (some separated by decades in age) who were reportedly taken to the warehouse allege violent and highly inappropriate behavior from officers. One young man claims he was severely beaten and had to be hospitalized. And a grandmother has accused officers of strip-searching her (including her body cavities) for over two hours merely because she had prescription drugs in her car.
The accused officers include the department’s deputy chief and his son, the latter of whom has resigned. The other officers have only been placed on administrative leave. Arrest warrants were apparently issued, but reportedly these charges do not even relate to the alleged Brave Cave incidents.
Sign the petition below to demand prosecutors seek full charges and maximum punishment if the latest allegations are proven true.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Prosecutor Moore,
The Baton Rouge Police Department has already faced one scandal in which excessive force and brutality were alleged. Following this scandal, reforms and changes were supposed to be in order. Yet the deeply disturbing allegations related to the reported Brave Cave show that real accountability may still be elusive.
At least four officers from the Street Crimes Unit were allegedly indiscriminate in the physical and sexual acts of violence against suspects of which they are accused. The accusers range from a man in his early twenties to a grandmother. And the list of reported atrocities is even more alarming, whether it be sexual assault or a severe beating that requires hospitalization.
The relationship between law enforcement and communities is complicated and fraught enough, especially in the Deep South. Please help mend these fractures and rebuild community trust by holding each and every officer found guilty of these alleged acts to full account.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Hunain Bin Shahid
Why do police allow this type of harm to happen? Is there no oversight?
Most police officers are decent people but these are the exceptions. They need to answer to the law as they are now considered criminals. I don’t think you want them continuing to serve as police.