An innocent black man

was punched, Tasered and arrested by police officers. A jury awarded him $18.
lol


DeShawn Franklin was asleep in his bedroom when police officers, with their weapons drawn, barged in.

He was punched several times, including three times in the face.

He was also Tasered, dragged out of his bedroom, handcuffed and placed in a police car.

"I didn't even know what was going on. I was just asleep," Franklin told The Washington Post. "It was just all a big shock and disturbance."

One thing became clear immediately: Franklin, then an 18-year-old high school senior, had done nothing wrong. But he did fit the description of a suspect being sought by officers: a slender, African American man with dreads.

The incident, which occurred in the summer of 2012 in a northern Indiana suburb, prompted a civil rights lawsuit against the police officers and city officials. Earlier this month, a jury found that the officers violated Franklin's constitutional rights by arresting him and entering his family's home without a warrant.

Still, Franklin and his family feel that justice has been denied.

The jury ordered each of the defendants to pay Franklin and his parents $1 for the violations of their rights. The total award was $18 in damages.

The Rev. Mario Sims, a senior pastor in South Bend, Ind., where Franklin lives, said the small award sends a strong message to Franklin and his family: "Your rights are worth a dollar."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/08/30/an-innocent-black-man-was-punched-tased-and-arrested-by-police-officers-a-jury-awarded-him-18/