A federal jury decided to relieve a white state trooper in Louisiana of the civil rights violation charges he faced after he clobbered and seriously wounded a Black man with a flashlight during an arrest in 2019.
In May of that year, Aaron Larry Bowman was pulled over for “improper lane usage” and was forcibly removed from his car by state troopers. When former trooper Jacob Brown, 32, showed up at the scene, he pulled Bowman into the driveway of his home in Monroe, then battered him with a flashlight 18 times in 24 seconds.
Bowman was heard screaming, “I’m not resisting! I’m not resisting!” on body camera footage while he was being beaten. He was left with a broken jaw, three broken ribs, a broken wrist, and a gash to his head that required staples to close.
It took state police nearly two years to investigate the attack, and they only launched a probe after Bowman filed a civil rights lawsuit. Investigators described Brown’s actions as “excessive and unjustifiable” and noted that he failed to report the use of force to his bosses and “intentionally mislabeled” his body camera footage.
That footage was never released by state troopers. The Associated Press published it alongside their findings into how Louisiana state troopers routinely bury evidence of the numerous instances where they exercise excessive use of force against people of color.
Brown was ultimately indicted by a grand jury for a civil rights violation and was charged with one count of deprivation of rights under color of law. To defend his actions, he called the beating “pain compliance,” referring to a variety of pain-inducing techniques available to officers to “persuade” an uncooperative arrestee to comply with their demands.
It only took three days for jurors to find Brown not guilty.
Afterward, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana Brandon B. Brown stated, “We believe that this victim’s civil rights were violated.”
Before Brown stepped down from his position, state police records show he was involved in 23 use-of-force incidents dating to 2015 to 2019 of which targeted Black people.
He is still facing state charges for his part in another violent arrest of another Black motorist that he bragged about in a group chat with other troopers, stating, “it warms my heart knowing we could educate that young man.”
