{"id":47848,"date":"2024-07-17T14:28:48","date_gmt":"2024-07-17T18:28:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=47848"},"modified":"2024-07-17T14:28:55","modified_gmt":"2024-07-17T18:28:55","slug":"man-claims-police-brutality-during-arrest-by-lakeland-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2024\/07\/17\/man-claims-police-brutality-during-arrest-by-lakeland-police\/","title":{"rendered":"Man claims police brutality during arrest by Lakeland police"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A high-profile law firm said it would be getting involved in what they called an effort to hold Lakeland PD<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A man is accusing Lakeland police officers of using&nbsp;unnecessary force, stemming from an incident in February.<\/p>\n\n\n        \n        <div class=\"embedpress-gutenberg-wrapper source-provider-Youtube aligncenter ep-clear   ep-content-protection-disabled inline\" id=\"1e083c67-6c98-4290-8ce6-6510cd793994\" data-embed-type=\"Youtube \">\n            <div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper \">\n                <div id=\"ep-gutenberg-content-7dfc459fd9060f103669020a8cfbc844\" class=\"ep-gutenberg-content\">\n                    <div >\n                        <div class=\"ep-embed-content-wraper preset-default insta-grid ep-google-photos-carousel\"\n                            style=\"max-width:600px;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto\"                                                                                                                >\n\n                            <div class=\"ose-youtube ose-uid-10d94f43243e5c50d138b83bfda514e4 ose-embedpress-responsive\" style=\"width:600px; height:340px; max-height:340px; max-width:100%; display:inline-block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowFullScreen=\"true\" title=\"New brutality allegation is committed against Lakeland PD\" width=\"600\" height=\"340\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/23lYGFRax6g?feature=oembed&#038;color=red&#038;rel=1&#038;controls=2&#038;start=true&#038;end=true&#038;fs=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;autoplay=0&#038;modestbranding=0&#038;cc_load_policy=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; encrypted-media;accelerometer;autoplay;clipboard-write;gyroscope;picture-in-picture clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen title=\"Man claims police brutality during arrest by Lakeland police\"><\/iframe><\/div>                        <\/div>\n\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    \n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The police body cam video of the confrontation, which started when a man named Marcus Adams says he stopped to smoke a cigarette on the Florida Southern College campus and was asked to leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Adams was already off campus when Lakeland police officers caught up with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just 22 seconds into the body camera video, Adams can be seen falling off his bicycle. At 23 seconds he&#8217;s on his back, showing his hands. Then, at 25 seconds, officers begin to grab him as he apparently kicks his legs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Six seconds after he fell from his bike, he&#8217;s being shot with a taser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I was completely caught off guard and did not understand that they thought I had tried to run away,&#8221; Adams said. &#8220;When they said that in the video, I was like, &#8216;are you all crazy?&#8217; I fell off the bike and I repeatedly told them I fell off the bike.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Flipped over, with his hands pinned beneath him, the video allegedly shows officers continuing to yell at Adams to put his hands behind his back.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" data-dominant-color=\"857f76\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #857f76;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"678\" height=\"315\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Screenshot-57-27.png?resize=678%2C315&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-47849 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Screenshot-57-27.png?w=678&amp;ssl=1 678w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Screenshot-57-27.png?resize=300%2C139&amp;ssl=1 300w\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I&#8217;ve never had my whole body lock up, and you can&#8217;t move it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You can&#8217;t do anything.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even as Adams groans in pain, is being tasered and apparently subdued, an officer begins striking Adams with his forearm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When he asks them why he&#8217;s being detained \u2014 the answer is not trespassing or smoking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat am I being stopped for? Why am I being stopped, because of a cigarette? On the campus?\u201d &nbsp;Adams asks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNo,\u201d the officer responds, \u201cBecause you didn&#8217;t listen to my commands, that&#8217;s why.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Community leaders who have repeatedly called upon Lakeland to address several cases of alleged police brutality say they have now seen this video as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell, immediately when I look at the video, I think of all of the other cases that we&#8217;ve been dealing with Lakeland and saying this is the same pattern,\u201d said Pastor Clayton Cowart with the Poor Minority Justice Association. \u201cThis is the same situation. Now, we&#8217;ve seen Black, we&#8217;ve seen white, it&#8217;s the culture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier this month, a high-profile law firm specializing in allegations of police brutality said it would be getting involved in what they called an effort to hold Lakeland police accountable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pastor Cowart said he had passed this video along to them and the FBI as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;\u201cI don&#8217;t know what it&#8217;s going to take to get Lakeland Police Department to realize that there is a serious problem here,\u201d Cowart said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the arrest affidavit, police say Adams failed to take the most direct route off campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement, Lakeland PD says Adams had not filed a formal complaint, but that all protective actions are thoroughly reviewed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Had Mr. Adams complied with the officers&#8217; directives,\u201d the statement reads in part. \u201cThis incident would not have resulted in protective actions taken by the officers.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the police affidavit, Adams was charged with trespassing on school grounds, possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, assault on a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer without violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The media asked Adams if he thought because officers found meth on him that it should change how people view him and his account.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Because they found drugs in my backpack, yes,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Does that justify them beating me up? No, not whatsoever, not whatsoever.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A high-profile law firm said it would be getting involved in what they called an effort to hold Lakeland PD A man is accusing Lakeland police officers of using&nbsp;unnecessary force,&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"12","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2,"attached_media":[{"id":47849,"url":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Screenshot-57-27.png","type":"image\/png"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[9153],"class_list":["post-47848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-man-claims-police-brutality-during-arrest-by-lakeland-police"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47848"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47850,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47848\/revisions\/47850"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}