Alwaght- A black man has filed a lawsuit against US police officers who tied him to a chair and beat him so hard that he lost the sight of one of his eyes.
Frankie Taylor was arrested for alleged drink driving on 10 August last year. He was taken to the police station, restrained, tied to a chair and savagely beaten.
The disturbing incident at Eastpointe police department was caught on camera. The footage was obtained from the lawyer representing Mr Taylor via a Freedom of Information request.
After a verbal exchange, the officers get Mr Taylor on the ground and restrained him. They then tied him to chair facing the camera.
“If you keep acting like a child, you’re going to get strapped in that chair and you’re going to stay there,” an officer says to Mr Taylor.
There are four officers surrounding Mr Taylor while he is tied in the chair. Two officers hold down his arms while two others hit him.
They beat him until he loses consciousness. His screams of pain are clearly heard in the video.
“Stop resisting,” the officer says automatically as punches land on victim's face and head. “Stop resisting.”
His lawyer, James Rasor, told The Independent that the police moved Mr Taylor to jail the next day instead of hospital. By the time he went to a Detroit hospital for surgery a few days later, it was too late to save his eye.
He said he knows of at least two other black residents in Eastpointe that were tied to that chair and beaten, and he encouraged anyone else who was hurt to contact him.
Video footage, which was not available at the start of his career, was "crucial" to show the jury what happened, he said, instead of relying on a "he said / she said" police report.
Mr Rasor said his client has “horrible, traumatic nightmares” and medical professionals have not ruled out a long-term brain injury.
The lawsuit requests at least $75,000, excluding legal fees and punitive damages.
