Blue Wall Crumbles During Trial Of Alabama Cop Who Beat Handcuffed Man

Blue Wall Crumbles During Trial Of Alabama Cop Who Beat Handcuffed Man (VIDEO)

Author: Randa Morris July 31, 2015 4:50 pm

On December 23, 2011, Huntsville, Alabama police arrived at the residence of Gary Wayne Hopkins. According to the official police version of what happened, Hopkins resisted arrest and spat on police officers, while swearing and using racial slurs.
Here’s video of the incident, courtesy of Photography Is Not A Crime, on YouTube.
On July 30, a jury found Huntsville police officer Brett Russell guilty of excessive force and obstruction of justice, both charges that arose from the brutal beating of Hopkins in 2011.

During a four day long trial, two of Russell’s fellow officers admitted to lying about what happened that night. Officer Joshua Bates, who was a training cadet at the time he witnessed Russell attack Hopkins, confessed on the stand. He told the jury he lied multiple times to internal affairs investigators, the FBI, and later, in front of a Grand Jury. Bates was granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony.
A second officer, Nick Hall, who was in the same car as Russell on the night of Hopkins’ arrest, also admitted to lying multiple times about what happened that night.
Both Bates and Hall testified that they never witnessed Hopkins resisting arrest, spitting on or assaulting officers, as they previously told investigators.
Besides the dashcam video that recorded the entire incident, additional video showed captured Russell telling Hall how easy it would be to submit “a fake justification,” for the brutality seen in the video.
Another officer, Amanda Carmean, was also implicated in the cover up. Russell and Carmean exchanged at least ten phone calls following the 2011 beating. Russell claimed on the stand that the two cops never conspired to lie about what happened.
Immediately after the jury found Russell guilty on both charges, he was taken into custody. Although he will not be sentenced until September, the former cop now faces up to ten years in prison.
During closing arguments, prosecuting attorneys asked the jury to make an example of Russell, stressing that it is crucial for the public to have faith in law enforcement.
Daniel Fortune with the U.S. Attorney’s Office said:

“It’s really important for the citizens to know that law enforcement officers are honest, trustworthy and they’re out there to help, they’re out there to protect and serve.”

Sounds great, until you realize that in order to catch one crooked cop, they let a bunch of other crooked cops go free. Far from restoring the public’s sense of trust in the police, Russell’s trial confirms what we already knew. Even the supposed “good cops” are bad cops. They lie to protect themselves and their fellow officers. Few, if any of them, are honest, trustworthy or “out there to protect and serve.”
*Featured image credit: video screen capture via Photography Is Not A Crime on youtube