This blog originally appeared at THEM.
Last year, Brock found himself subdued by a sheriff’s deputy, subjected to a beating, and subsequently arrested in a 7-Eleven parking lot.
Emmett Brock, a transgender man, has been declared “factually innocent” of all charges brought against him more than a year after being assaulted and detained by a Los Angeles police officer. The declaration came from a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge on March 8, absolving Brock, 24, of three felonies — mayhem, resisting arrest, and obstruction — along with a misdemeanor charge of failure to obey a police officer. Despite prosecutors dropping the case in August, the recent declaration of “factual innocence” by the court underscores that the evidence alone vindicates Brock.
This development bolsters Brock’s ongoing legal battle against Los Angeles County and its Sheriff’s Department, as he seeks more than $10,000 in damages. “I can finally exhale,” remarked Brock in response to Judge Evan Kitahara’s decision. “It felt like I’d been holding my breath for over a year.”
Despite never being convicted, Brock suffered professional repercussions, losing his high school teaching job shortly after his arrest in February 2023. The incident unfolded when Brock, en route to an appointment, witnessed an officer he believed was mistreating a woman during a traffic stop. Expressing his discontent by gesturing at the officer, Brock was pursued by LA County Sheriff’s Deputy Joseph Benza to a 7-Eleven parking lot, where Benza proceeded to physically assault him. Brock sustained injuries, including a concussion, from the altercation.
Although Benza alleged that Brock attempted to bite him, a medical report refuted this claim. Additionally, Brock was subjected to further indignities, including being held in a women’s jail cell after being forced to expose himself. Investigations into Benza’s conduct by both Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón and the FBI are underway, with Brock’s lawyer Thomas Beck suggesting potential prosecution for excessive use of force.
In his recent complaint against the Sheriff’s Department, Beck accused five high-ranking department officials of participating in a “cover-up conspiracy.” Allegedly, each member deliberately discriminated against Brock based on his transgender identity while he was in custody. They purportedly ignored Brock’s claims of assault, disregarded evidence of Deputy Benza’s misconduct, and failed to investigate, all forming what Beck termed a “mutually supportive conspiracy.” This conspiracy aimed to fabricate false charges against Brock and shield the department from accountability.
The issue of police brutality is pervasive throughout law enforcement, with Los Angeles having a notorious reputation for excessive force dating back to the 1960s. During that period, then-Chief William Parker oversaw the militarization of the city against its Black population during the civil rights movement. LAPD officers are notorious for underreporting instances of excessive force by fellow officers, often avoiding repercussions for inappropriate conduct.
Brock’s impending lawsuit coincides with heightened scrutiny on the Sheriff’s Department due to several recent allegations of brutality. One such incident occurred in July 2023, where an officer purportedly punched a woman holding a baby in the face. The FBI has launched an official investigation into this case and two other separate incidents. In a noteworthy development from October of the previous year, a jury awarded $13.5 million to the family of Jacobo Cedillo after determining that two officers had used excessive force, resulting in his death by placing their full body weight on his back. The problem of police profiling exacerbates these issues; a 2022 study by the California Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board revealed that law enforcement officers in California detained transgender individuals at a rate two and a half times higher than cisgender individuals based on perceived gender identity.
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