Dallas Police Chief David Brown on Thursday suspended a veteran police officer for one day after an internal investigation found the officer used unnecessary force when he pushed an Occupy Dallas protester from a planter last month.
Brown also restricted Officer Jimmy Hollis, a 19-year-veteran, from working off-duty jobs for 60 days. Hollis declined to comment when reached by telephone. The chief did not respond to requests for comment.
Stephen Benavides, the protester who Hollis pushed that day, called the discipline inadequate.
“That unnecessary force basically inhibited our ability to peacefully assemble and express ourselves,” Benavides said. “This was a violation of civil rights and civil liberties.”
The highly publicized incident came during the Nov. 5 Occupy Dallas protest at the Bank of America building at 901 Main St. Protesters accuse the police of inciting a riot because of the way they handled the protest.
Benavides and other protesters also accused Hollis of pushing Benavides off the planter. Police initially said there was no evidence to back up the allegations.
But video surfaced that appeared to show Hollis shoving Benavides off the planter just before Benavides’ arrest. He was arrested on a charge of assault on a public servant for allegedly swinging a flagpole at a different officer.
According to a department news release issued Thursday, the chief has requested that Dallas County prosecutors refer the case against Benavides to a grand jury.
“This will mean that the District Attorney’s Office, at the request of Chief Brown, will present the case to the grand jury without arguing for or against an indictment,” the release said. “This will allow the decision on whether or not an indictment is appropriate to rest solely with the Grand Jury.”
Benavides said he is hopeful that the grand jury will “look at the evidence and see that there was no assault on a public servant and dismiss these charges.”
The release also said Brown had asked the city attorney’s office to dismiss all “use of sidewalk” citations issued during the protest that day.
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20111215-dallas-officer-suspended-one-day-for-using-force-against-occupy-dallas-protester.ece
Dallas Observer
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2011/12/dpd_chief_brown_suspends_offic.php
CBS DFW
http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/12/15/officer-suspended-for-roll-in-occupy-dallas-scuffle/
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