GRAPHIC: Knoxville parents report body cam video proves excessive force claims at middle school

[Jilly_in_VA]

The parents of a former Northwest Middle School student filed a lawsuit against the Knoxville Police Department and officer David Lee for using excessive force against their son at Northwest Middle School, according to court documents obtained by WVLT News.

On April 19, 2021, then eighth-grade student, who WVLT News will call DJ to comply with Tennessee law when reporting on juveniles, was on his way to the bathroom when Lee detained him by grabbing his backpack and not letting go, according to the documents.

“Defendant Lee threatened to arrest Plaintiff if he did not give his backpack to the Defendant. Defendant Lee alleged that he could smell an odor of marijuana coming from Plaintiff’s backpack, which, later, a search of Plaintiff’s backpack and person did not yield any illegal drugs, narcotics, or drug paraphernalia. At this point, the Plaintiff did not do anything illegal and was confused by Defendant Lee’s demand to search his backpack. Rather than a teacher calling the Plaintiff’s parents, Defendant Lee aggressively grabbed Plaintiff’s arms and forcefully restrained the Plaintiff. While Defendant Lee had Plaintiff’s arms restrained, Defendant Lee leg swept Plaintiff’s legs and slammed Plaintiff’s slight frame face-first into the ground without his arms to brace for the impact. Defendant Lee’s body weight fell on top of the 8th-grade Plaintiff, and Defendant Lee placed his knee on Plaintiff’s neck, making it difficult for Plaintiff to breathe. A frightened Plaintiff and Defendant Lee struggled on the ground for a few seconds, but Defendant Lee was successful in restraining the terrified Plaintiff by placing cuff tightly on his hands behind his back. Rather than simply searching Plaintiff’s backpack at that moment, Defendant Lee continued to mishandle the Plaintiff. After being restrained, Defendant Lee dragged Plaintiff away from the hallway and inexplicably into a small room without cameras where Defendant forcefully placed Plaintiff in a chair.”

(Court Documents)

https://www.wvlt.tv/2022/04/29/lawyers-respond-parents-claims-excessive-force-against-middle-school-student/
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Stuff like this is why we shouldn't have cops in schools. They go power-mad.