A white Missouri law enforcement officer whose seven years with the Kansas City Police Department have been tainted with accusations of killing three civilians, police brutality and legal actions against him remains on the job, even as a new lawsuit accuses him of excessive force against a Black woman.
In a lawsuit filed Feb. 6 with the Platte County Circuit Court, Bermeeka Mitchell of Lansing, Kansas, accused Officer Blayne Newton of assault and battery stemming from events that unfolded on Sept. 11, 2022.
Mitchell was livestreaming an arrest at a Walmart in Platte County, Missouri, as Newton was working off-duty, reported the Kansas City Star.
According to the lawsuit, an unknown individual motioned for Nelson to arrest Mitchell for trespassing, at which time the officer “grabbed and twisted both her arms in a forceful manner” and took his boot’s heel and ground it into Mitchell’s foot.
His handcuffing during an arrest of Mitchell – which, according to the lawsuit, Mitchell said he had no legal basis to do – was done so tightly that it left visible marks, the lawsuit claims.
After being detained in a private room at the store, the officer told Mitchell she would not face trespassing and resisting arrest charges if she agreed to “not make a scene” as she left, the lawsuit states, according to the Kansas City Star.
In the lawsuit, Mitchell says she did not resist arrest. No charges were filed against her.
Court records obtained by the Kansas City Star showed that while the Kansas City Police Department’s Office of Community Complaints did sustain Mitchell’s allegations of excessive force against Newton, there were no details on the disciplinary action said to have been taken against him in a May 2023 letter from the department.
“I’ve been on a traumatizing emotional rollercoaster over a year. Keep fighting for justice!” Mitchell wrote on her social media page following the lawsuit’s…
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