Five Georgia Sheriff’s Office Employees Investigated for Beating Black Man in Custody

() — Five employees of the Camden County, Georgia, Sheriff’s Office were placed on administrative duty amid a internal and state investigation about the September beating of Jarrett Hobbs, a 41-year-old black man, while in custody, a department spokesperson told on Wednesday.

The employees were assigned to administrative duties on November 14 and are serving a non-law enforcement role while investigations are conducted, according to spokesman Larry Bruce. When asked why employees were placed in administrative roles more than two months after the incident, Bruce declined to comment.

The employees in question are “new employees” to the department, Bruce told , but provided no additional information.

At a news conference Wednesday, Hobbs’ family and attorney called for the employees involved in his beating to be fired and charged and for the Justice Department to investigate the Sheriff’s Office.

“We are here supporting this community, with this family, there is no way anyone is going to be beaten the way this man was beaten,” said civil rights attorney Harry Daniels, who is representing Hobbs. “I don’t care what he did, I don’t care if he broke the fucking door down, you don’t hit a person like that.”

“There was no [absolutamente] no reasoning, no justification, no cause, no moot point, no legal justification to go into that cell with a man sitting there and beat him up,” said Bakari Sellers, another of Hobbs’ attorneys. Sellers is also a contributor to .

The Sheriff’s Office would not comment on requests by Hobbs’ attorneys for the Justice Department to investigate the incident.

Hobbs’ sister, Jai’Vian Thomas, said after the news conference that she wants the employees fired, arrested and convicted.

“I just want them to be prosecuted, charged so my brother can get his justice,” Thomas said. “We are just another family, we are tired of being just another family.”

When asked how Hobbs was doing, Daniels said: “He’s struggling every day, thinking about what happened to him, you know his physical injuries can heal, but Mr. Hobbs wanted to express to everyone that he is not treated mentally ill people that way, you don’t treat them that way.”

Hobbs said they plan to file a lawsuit.

Attorney Harry Daniels speaks during a press conference, Nov. 16, in Woodbine, Georgia. (Credit: Russ Bynum/AP)

Three videos show the beating

Hobbs’ attorneys released two videos of the incident earlier this week and shortly before Wednesday’s news conference, they released a third video, with audio, that partially showed the altercation between Hobbs and employees at the Hobbs detention center. county. The video appears to be from the detention center’s surveillance system and was obtained through a separate legal proceeding in North Carolina involving Hobbs.

On Monday, Hobbs’ lawyers released two silent videos of the incident, which also appear to be from the jail’s surveillance system. The videos showed Hobbs alone in a cell at the detention center. In one video, five employees can be seen entering Hobbs’ cell and one grabbing him by the neck. A fight ensued inside the cell. Soon, at least four of the employees can be seen struggling with Hobbs, some hitting him over the head.

A second video released by Hobbs’ attorneys shows Hobbs being led from the cell and employees can be seen tackling him to the ground. The video appears to show at least one employee kicking Hobbs. Four of the five employees appear to be white; the other appears to be black.

Seconds after the start of the third video, two loud bangs sound in the jail hallway. An employee who appears to be walking away from Hobbs’ cell turns around as the sounds are heard, then disappears around the corner near Hobbs’ cell, which is not seen in the shot.

Four employees are then seen walking towards Hobbs’ cell. The cell door opens and the employees and Hobbs reappear about 30 seconds later, staggering down the hallway. A loud moan is heard.

Though much of the audio is muffled and indistinguishable, an employee can be heard yelling, “Stop fighting back.” Hobbs yells, “Man, I’m sitting down, stop…” as employees crowd around him trying to hold him down.

At one point, an employee tells Hobbs to “give us the other hand.”

Hobbs responds by yelling, “How the hell, I’m on one leg…”

As the employees worked to restrain Hobbs, one is heard saying, “Let him go.” He follows Hobbs and the employees going back and forth over something he is holding. Hobbs says, “it’s paper,” just before the employees take control of Hobbs and place him in a restraint chair, in his cell.

About eight minutes later, the video shows at least three employees interacting with Hobbs after leading him out of his cell while he was still restrained in the chair. In the video with no sound, it appears that they are talking to Hobbs; an employee reviews his restraints before placing him back in the cell.

In a press release issued Monday, Daniels said Hobbs was having a psychological episode and had asked to be taken into protective custody.

Georgia authorities are investigating the incident.

In a statement released Monday, the Sheriff’s Office said Sheriff Jim Proctor “directed that an internal investigation of the incident be launched immediately. This investigation will include all video recorded from the time the inmate entered the facility on September 3, 2022, until his release on September 30, 2022. If deemed necessary, an additional agency will assist with investigation. research “.

“Internal investigations involve video review, witness questioning, and documentation of recovered evidence, which takes time and is not completed overnight,” the statement added.

It did not include the names of the employees involved.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) also announced Tuesday that it will conduct a “thorough independent investigation” of the incident following a request by Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Keith Higgins, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said. agency on Twitter.

“Once the investigation is complete, we will provide the file to the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office,” the GBI said.

In a statement to , Higgins said his office asked the GBI to “investigate the use of force that occurred at the Camden County Security Complex on September 3, 2022.”

“Upon completion of the investigation, the District Attorney’s Office will review the investigative file and determine what action should be taken,” the statement said.

Hobbs violated his probation in a federal case out of North Carolina while in Georgia, where he was charged with speeding, driving with a revoked or suspended license and possession of a controlled substance, Daniels said.

In North Carolina court papers regarding the revocation of his probation, his probation officer, FJ Carney, who was not present at the Georgia detention center, recounted the events that occurred at the Camden County Jail.

“While defendant was in custody at the CCSO complex in Woodbine, Georgia, jailers heard loud banging in defendant’s holding cell. The defendant was reportedly kicking in his cell door and the jailers told him to stop after previously warning him to stop,” the court document states.

“Officer Carney testified that the defendant apparently continued to kick, which resulted in the jailers approaching him, giving him verbal commands and placing his hands behind his back. However, the defendant allegedly failed to comply and responded to the jailers by saying: ‘I’m not doing sh*t’. After the jailers reportedly continued to give him orders and approached him, the defendant tensed up, walked away, and a physical altercation ensued between the defendant and the jailers,” the document continues.

“According to Officer Carney, the defendant resisted the jailers and subsequently struck one officer in the face while striking another on the side of the head. One officer suffered a bruised eye and a broken hand as a result of the incident. Agent Carney noted that the report reflected that the defendant was struck in the head by one of the correctional officers, although the exact sequence of events is unknown to Agent Carney,” he said.

Last week, at a final hearing on Hobbs’ federal parole in North Carolina, the judge revoked his probation but dismissed an arrest-related violation and charges of battery, assault and obstruction against Hobbs employees. Camden County Jail, which Carney alleged. Hobbs admitted to three other violations for traffic violations, drug possession and failing to tell his probation officer about the trip, according to federal court records.

When asked about the case, US Attorney’s Office spokesman Barry Paschal said the office “does not discuss active investigations or whether they exist.”

Hobbs remains in custody in North Carolina, his attorney said.

— ‘s Martin Savidge contributed to this report.