Lucas FintonMemphis Commercial Appeal
There were at least 31 sustained allegations of excessive force by Shelby County Jail correctional officers from 2018 to 2021, according to an amended federal civil lawsuit filed by attorneys representing the family of Gershun Freeman, a man who died after an altercation with correctional officers last October.
The amended filing was initially submitted on Oct. 27 this year following the arraignment of nine corrections officers indicted in relation to Freeman's death but was resubmitted Monday, to include the excessive force violations.
Of the 31 instances of excessive force — which included a corrections officer pushing an inmate down the stairs, others spraying chemical irritants at inmates locked behind a cell gate, and corrections officers pushing, kicking and punching inmates without reason — only one incident resulted in the officer being fired.
That incident, which took place in August 2019, resulted in Officer Fredrick McCloud being fired from the jail. The firing came after he was indicted for felony misconduct and aggravated assault by a Shelby County grand jury in connection to the excessive use of force.
According to the court documents filed in the Freeman lawsuit, McCloud followed an inmate to the 2nd floor medical center, "without prior authorization to do so, where he conducted the assault." According to the filing, the inmate had "significant head injuries" and was taken to an emergency room.
Of the corrections officers indicted in the Gershun Freeman case, two appear on the list of sustained excessive force complaints. Damian Cooper received two sustained violations and Stevon Jones received one, with Cooper being mentioned in Jones' violation as being involved but not found to have used excessive force.
According to the filing, Cooper received an oral reprimand in February 2019 after he reached around an inmate's head, as the inmate walked away, and sprayed that inmate in the face with a chemical irritant. Cooper, according to the incident statement in the federal filing, then pulled the inmate's hair, pulled him to the floor and began punching the inmate. Cooper is then said to have placed the inmate in a headlock.
Almost a year and a half later, Jones was given a ten-day suspension without pay for "retaliating against" an inmate "for exercising his First Amendment right to file a grievance against the correctional officer."
According to the filing, Jones was the only one of a group of corrections officers who were found to have used excessive force after he, "without justification, sprayed freeze plus P [pepper spray]" into an inmate's cell who did not pose a threat to Jones. Cooper, along with other corrections officers, were involved in this incident but were not found to have used excessive force.
The inmate alleged that all of the officers beat him in the head with handcuffs while he was in his cell.
In January 2021, Cooper was given a 10-day suspension without pay for a new incident. That incident, according to the filing, said Cooper pushed an inmate in the chest with an open palm. The filing went on to say the inmate did not pose a threat, or make "an aggressive move" towards Cooper, who then punched the inmate.
Outside of the single firing from June 2018 until September 2021, here were how the sustained excessive force complaints were punished:
- Eight, 10-day suspensions without pay
- Six oral reprimands
- Five, three-day suspensions without pay
- Three written reprimands
- Three, one-day suspensions without pay
- Two, five-day suspensions without pay
- One, one-day suspension without pay that was reduced to a written reprimand
- One, 30-day suspension without pay
What happened to Gershun Freeman?
Security footage that was released in March by the Davidson County District Attorney's Office showed officers handing out boxed meals to inmates. When they reached Freeman's cell, he ran out, naked, and appeared to grab at an officer.
The Shelby County Sheriff's Office, which runs the jail, said Freeman bit one of the corrections officers when he ran out.
For multiple minutes, officers try to wrestle Freeman to the ground as he moves throughout the jail. Some officers can be seen punching and kicking him, while others are spraying him with what appeared to be large canisters of pepper spray. At one point, the officers appear to hit Freeman with the canister.
Surveillance from 201 Poplar shows Shelby County officers beat inmate
Video shows correctional officers punching, kicking, pepper spraying and kneeling on inmate who died after attempting to run on Oct. 5, 2022.
Video Courtesy of Nashville District Attorney's Office
Eventually, he breaks free and runs up an escalator before being caught again. The next camera angle showed officers pushing Freeman against a wall, at which point Freeman appeared to swing at him.
Two more officers arrive and hold Freeman to the ground, attempting to handcuff him after a few punches. As Freeman is handcuffed, more officers arrive and one of the officers appears to place his knee on Freeman's upper back.
The officer kept his knee there for almost six minutes.
Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner, in a press conference where he announced the nine corrections officers had been indicted, has called the prosecution political. At the time, Bonner was in the midst of an ultimately unsuccessful campaign for Memphis mayor, and Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy had endorsed a separate candidate.
More: Shelby Co. Sheriff's Office investigating 'internal failures' after fatal courtroom stabbing
The criminal case was assigned to the Davidson County DA's Office by a panel of district attorneys after Mulroy recused himself, and his office, so proceedings would not seem political.
Bonner has also denied that any of the nine officers had caused Freeman's death, saying, "The medical examiner plainly said that he died from a pre-existing heart condition."
Freeman's autopsy report, however, said Freeman's heart condition was exacerbated by the physical altercation with the correctional officers.
Prior to criminal charges being announced, Freeman's family retained notable civil rights attorney Ben Crump. The civil lawsuit, filed in federal court, names Bonner and Chief Jailer Kirk Fields.
Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached atLucas.Finton@commercialappeal.comand followed on Twitter @LucasFinton.
