Trans man who was brutally attacked by a cop is suing LA county for over $10,000

A trans man who was brutally attacked by a Los Angeles police officer is planning to sue the county for more than $10,000 in damages.

All charges have been dropped against Emmett Brock after video footage revealed Deputy Joseph Banza tackling the 23-year-old high school teacher to the ground after following him into a 7-Eleven parking lot. The surveillance video of the incident, combined with audio from the officer’s bodycam, shows that despite the fact that Brock continued to scream for help and assure the officer he was not resisting, the officer would not let up.

Related:

California school district forces teachers to out trans kids to their parents

The state tried to warn them that the new rule is illegal.

Brock then endured anti-trans harassment at the police station, where he was charged with three felonies – obstruction, resisting arrest, and mayhem, as well as the misdemeanor charge of failure to obey a cop. He then lost his teaching job due to the charges.

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Brock’s attorney, Thomas Beck, has filed a notice of claim regarding his intent to pursue a lawsuit, according to the Los Angeles Times. In addition to detailing the harassment Brock endured at the station, the claim notice also accuses other officers of helping Benza concoct a “knowingly false justification” for his actions against Brock – which it alleges led to Benza’s claim that Brock bit him. Beck also argues that the use-of-force investigation against Benza, who was cleared of all wrongdoing, was “falsified and distorted.”

In the footage captured at the scene, Benza can be heard screaming at Brock to place his hands behind his back while Brock yells multiple times that he can’t move his arms because the officer is holding them. The altercation lasted three minutes, during which Brock yelled, “You’re going to kill me. You’re going to f**king kill me. Help! Help! Help! I’m not resisting!” All the while, Benza was repeatedly punching Brock in the head while sitting on top of him.

“Even when I did get [my arms] out the way he wanted, he continued to punch me,” Brock told The Los Angeles Times. “He just kept saying, ‘Stop resisting, stop resisting.’ I didn’t understand why he was shouting that because I wasn’t resisting.”

Benza maintained that the incident began because Brock had an air freshener hanging in his rearview mirror that was allegedly obstructing his view of the road, but one expert believes Benza’s actions were likely retaliatory.

Brock had been driving home from school when he saw an officer believed to be Benza arguing with a woman on the side of the road. Brock put up his middle finger as he drove by but did not intend for Benza to see the gesture. Seconds later, Benza was following him. He didn’t turn on his sirens or attempt to pull Brock over, but he kept driving in the same direction.

When Brock pulled into the 7-Eleven to buy a soda, Benza drove up behind him and said, “I just stopped you.” Brock replied that he didn’t, and in response Benza grabbed Brock’s arm and tackled him.

Ed Obayashi, a national use-of-force expert and former Northern California sheriff’s deputy, told the Times it doesn’t make sense why the situation escalated so quickly. “This could very well be contempt of cop,” he said, which means a cop has reacted violently after feeling they have been disrespected.

Benza ended up handcuffing and arresting Brock. At that point, Brock still had no idea why Benza had targeted him. He did not learn it was supposedly due to an air freshener until Benza filled out paperwork about the incident. His report did not include mention of Brock flipping him off. He also claimed he tackled him because Brock made a fist that looked like he was going to throw a punch. He accused Brock of biting him during the interaction, but medical reports don’t mention any bite marks.

“There is no moment that Emmett is not shouting or screaming,” said Beck at the time. “And you can’t talk when your teeth are clamped onto someone’s hand.”

At the police station, Brock was then forced to show a jailer his genitals after explaining that he’s trans. And despite the fact that he met their criteria and has a penis, they placed him in a women’s holding cell. 

Now that the charges against Brock have been dropped, he is working to have the court declare him factually innocent and return to his teaching job.

“I am feeling relieved that the district attorney made the right choice and chose justice,” Brock told the Times. “But I will feel more relieved when I get my job back.”

Soon after the attack, Brock emphasized how much his job means to him: “I lost so much of myself that day in the parking lot. But I love what I do, and it is kind of how I define myself — and for that to be taken away? It felt like I had just lost everything.”

Benza’s attorney, Tom Yu, maintains the officer did nothing wrong. “If you don’t want police officers to do takedowns, then don’t train them that way,” he said.