A detainee was brutally beaten by five of the officers, in a Georgia jail. The events were recorded on September 3 by security cameras, where it is shown how they beat up inside the cell. The lawyers for the victim have requested this Wednesday the dismissal and arrest of the agents who were part of the attack.
Jarrett Hobbs, a 41-year-old African-American man from North Carolina, was booked into the Camden County Jail on coastal Georgia on charges of traffic violation and drug possession.
A video from the security cameras on the night of the arrest shows how up to five members of the prison beat up the detainee. According to federal court records, guards entered Hobbs' cell on September 3 because he was kicking down the door and refusing to stop.
In the footage, Hobbs can be seen standing in his cell when suddenly five guards rush in and surround him. Immediately afterwards, the victim receives repeated punches to the head and neck. After the confrontation, a second video shows how the prisoner is taken from the cell and thrown against a wall. In total, the playback lasted almost a minute. For most of the recording, Hobbs is hidden by the guards surrounding him or out of the camera frame.
The lawyers for the victim insist that the videos show unjustified violence, which is why they ask for the dismissal and arrest of the attackers. "There is no justification for being beaten the way this man was beaten," said Harry Daniels, the detainee's lawyer. Although the footage doesn't show how far Hobbs fought the officials, Daniels believes he would have been justified in fighting an illegal attack.
"He told me literally that he had done nothing wrong, that they just came in and beat him up," said Taylor Wood, one of Hobbs' sisters, who joined lawyers at a news conference on Wednesday calling for justice.
Both Camden Jail Supervisor and Sheriff Jim Proctor and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation have announced that separate investigations are underway. Although the lawyers question the delay in the investigation, given that it occurred more than two months ago.
Jail records show Hobbs was later charged with aggravated assault, simple assault and obstruction of law enforcement officers. The video, posted by Harry Daniels, has no sound. Although the lawyer claims to have an audio copy, he refuses to share it.
The jailhouse videos came to light because Hobbs was on parole for a 2014 federal conviction and was being investigated whether he had violated the terms. The jailhouse footage became part of the evidence in that case.
An October 20 judge's order in the probation case said a probation officer testified that Hobbs had "hit one deputy in the face while punching another in the side of the head. One of them suffered a concussion." in the eye and a broken hand as a result of the incident. He also noted that Hobbs was punched in the head and that the probation officer was "unaware of the exact sequence of events."
Hobbs' probation was revoked on November 7. However, the court dismissed the alleged probation violations based on the struggle with jailers in Georgia. The court file does not say why. Hobbs was released from the Camden County Jail on September 30 but remains in custody in North Carolina.
