UT - Ogden police officers accused of beating man who was pinned to ground in viral video; PD claims it was justified force - 4/27/23

[Bishop Black]

Ogden police chief says beating of man on ground was ‘justified’ use of force

The man’s mother said he suffered a broken nose, fractured jaw, broken orbital sockets and loss of vision in one eye.

www.sltrib.com

Ogden police Chief Eric Young said Tuesday that the four officers involved in the beating of a 30-year-old man as he was lying on the ground Saturday were justified in their use of force because the man had acted like he had a gun.

The man, identified Tuesday as Shawn Sims, suffered facial fractures and bleeding behind one eye as he was repeatedly punched by police, Young said at a Tuesday news conference. The chief addressed the public days after cellphone footage of the altercation filmed by a witness went viral online, prompting a series of comments criticizing the Ogden Police Department.

During the news conference, Young shared body camera footage from the officers involved in the beating and said he believed they were in fear for their lives.

A woman who identified herself as Sims’ mother shared a more detailed account of Sims’ injuries on a GoFundMe campaign she set up after the beating, saying that he suffered a “broken nose, fractured jaw, broken orbital sockets and complete loss of vision in one of his eyes.”

“The possibility of him getting his vision back is very, very slim,” she wrote on the GoFundMe page, noting that the video “clearly shows him laying on the ground defenseless, not resisting at all.”

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Pulling up to the stoplight on Washington Boulevard and 17th Street in Ogden on Saturday evening, Keaton Fuller looked over to see police attempting to arrest a man as he walked on the road.

Fuller said he had seen the man walking along the road earlier as Fuller pulled into the Mister Car Wash on the corner. It was when he left the car wash and pulled up to the light, he explained seeing a police car with its lights on following the man slowly as the man walked away from the vehicle and along the road.

“I see the guy running across the street,” Fuller recounted of what happened next. “And then the police officer got out of his car and started booking it towards him.”

Fuller looked down to get his cell phone out, saying he hadn’t seen something like this outside of TV or the news. He pulled his phone camera up and zoomed in.

Ogden police investigating punches thrown by officers captured in bystander video

A video showing an incident with Ogden police officers is raising questions over the conduct of the officers.

ksltv.com