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BlueWaveNeverEnd

(10,493 posts)
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 10:11 PM 15 hrs ago

Eight L.A sheriff's deputies relieved of duty following alleged attempted cover-up of beating of trans teacher



Eight L.A sheriff's deputies relieved of duty following alleged attempted cover-up of beating of trans teacher
The federal investigation into the deputies conduct stems from an incident in 2023 where a LA County Sheriff's deputy pulled over a teacher leaving his high school after he reportedly flipped him off while driving by


https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-12-25/several-deputies-relieved-of-duty-amid-federal-probe-into-beating


The incident that sparked the federal investigation occurred on Feb. 10, 2023 when Brock was leaving his high school teaching job. Brock told the Times that he saw a deputy in what he described as a heated conversation with a woman on the side of the rode. Brock got in his car to leave and driving by the deputy he flashed his middle finger out the window not thinking the deputy would see it, Brock told the Times.

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Prosecutors said in last week's court filings that Benza abandoned his response to a domestic disturbance call to follow Brock after he saw him flip him off. Prosecutors also allege that Benza called another deputy over the radio saying he was going pull someone over who flipped him off, the Times reported citing court documents.

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Federal prosecutors allege that following widespread media coverage of the incident Benza texted a group chat with two other deputies saying they had to delete text conversations on their personal cellphones in anticipation of a federal investigation. Three days later one of the deputies in the chat messaged the group saying a sergeant had instructed them to “toss the phone,” which federal said was a directive to delete the data from the phone, the Times reported.

In the plea agreement signed last week, Benza admitted to lying in his report and said that a sergeant had written "substantive portions" of it for him. In the plea, he also admitted that he lied when he told federal investigators he never saw anyone flip him off, as well as saying Brock bit him, which a medical examination of Benza revealed was not true.

Benza also admitted to discussing the report with other deputies, something he had initially claimed he had not done. All charges against Brock were eventually dropped and he has since filed a lawsuit against the LA County Sheriff's Office in federal court alleging false imprisonment, civil rights violations, and assault and battery.
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Deuxcents

(20,151 posts)
1. "Relieved of duty" I guess we'll find out what that means..temporary or permanent and if the teacher sues
Thu Dec 26, 2024, 10:47 PM
15 hrs ago

I hope he does. I’m of the understanding that flipping someone the bird is not a crime..even if it’s to a cop

electric_blue68

(18,724 posts)
6. The deputy should have a thicker skin...Geeeebz....
Fri Dec 27, 2024, 03:55 AM
9 hrs ago

going after someone for flipping the bird. Should know better that he's likely to get that reaction from time to time.

Hope the teacher sues the hell outta him.

RockRaven

(16,537 posts)
3. LASD and LAPD are a more iconic violent street gang duo than Crips and Bloods.
Fri Dec 27, 2024, 01:48 AM
12 hrs ago

Or nearly so, anyhow.

MurrayDelph

(5,442 posts)
4. LA Sheriff's is a corrupt cop-gang organization
Fri Dec 27, 2024, 02:17 AM
11 hrs ago

that needs to be take over by the Feds, have everyone fired and have to reapply, with the ones who don't get their jobs back put on a national registry of bad cops so they can't just move to a different jurisdiction and start over again.

And I say that as the son-in-law of a (long-deceased) LA Sheriff Reserve officer who was a child molester and hung out with other dirty cops.

C0RI0LANUS

(1,878 posts)
5. What is in the water in Los Angeles? Older DU-ers will remember this horrifying image.
Fri Dec 27, 2024, 02:51 AM
11 hrs ago


In his plea agreement, Joseph Benza III (36) admitted that he was responding to a domestic violence call in Whittier when he saw E.B. drive by and extend his middle finger – an expression that is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.


"The victim of the assault, a 23-year-old man identified in court documents as “E.B.,” who weighed about half as much as Benza, suffered a concussion, contusions and abrasions."

Source:

https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/lasd-deputy-sheriff-agrees-plead-guilty-assaulting-transgender-man-violation-federal

intheflow

(29,055 posts)
7. Seriously, is there anything less fragile than
Fri Dec 27, 2024, 06:57 AM
6 hrs ago

a white man’s ego? A beating for flipping him off? JFC.

UniqueUserName

(296 posts)
8. His [Benza] 'fraternal' bros or thug advocates have done an amazing job scrubbing his image from the web
Fri Dec 27, 2024, 07:18 AM
6 hrs ago

I know that it does no good, but I'm always compelled to look at the image of someone who would behave so heinously.

Benza's image can't be easily located on Google or DuckDuckGo. Mugshots are public record.

I suspect this is a benefit of the FOP. -----Scrub the internet of his image. --- can't have anyone naming and shaming----well he IS named ---- just find it interesting that his image is being protected.

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