After Brutally Beating an Inmate, 9 Deputies May Be Headed to Their Own Jail Cells
Not one, not two but nine Memphis jail deputies have been handed indictments in connection to the death of a Black inmate who was having a mental crisis. Two of those deputies have been charged with murder.
Last October, 33-year-old Gershun Freeman was captured on surveillance camera footage being beaten by up to 10 correctional officers in Shelby County Jail as he ran naked from his cell. In the video, Freeman is seen being tackled to the ground, punched, kicked and pepper sprayed. Freeman managed to flee but only to be restrained again by officers who pushed him to the ground, cuffed him behind his back and kneeled on him for several minutes. Suddenly, he went limp.
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Sheriff Bonner, by holding a news conference, was able to announce the indictments himself, pre-empting the district attorney. Sheriff Bonner is running for mayor of Memphis, the seat of Shelby County. The district attorney there, Steve Mulroy, recused himself from the case against the deputies because he had already endorsed Sheriff Bonner’s opponent, Van Turner, a former president of the Memphis branch of the N.A.A.C.P.
Sheriff Bonner said that “the way the case was being handled is political, and it’s only grown worse” and that Mr. Funk should not have released footage in March of the episode.
“I believe if I were not running for another office these indictments never would have happened,” Sheriff Bonner said, “and I find that despicable.”
The indictment lists second-degree murder, aggravated assault resulting in death, aggravated assault with deadly weapon acting in concert and assault as the charges. According to FOX13 Memphis, Shelby County Jail has seen 52 inmate deaths since 2016. It’s unclear how many have been the result of interactions with corrections officers.
Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump is representing Freeman’s family in a civil suit against the county.
“No person deserves to die in prison at the hands of those who are responsible for them and their care, no matter what they are incarcerated for. Our justice system cannot continue to be overridden by those who take on the role as jury, judge, and executioner,” said Crump in a statement via Action News 5.
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