by Matt Agorist, The Free Thought Project:
Winston Salem, NC — Second Lieutenant Caron Nazario was on his way home from a long day of work at his duty station in December 2020 when he was targeted by some very bad apples for revenue collection. This would be no simple extortion, however, as the cops would hold the U.S. Army soldier at gunpoint, pepper spray him, and assault this innocent man for no reason.
Last year, Nazario found out that the main culprit behind his assault, Joe Gutierrez, will face no charges.
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“Although I find the video very disturbing and frankly unsettling, Gutierrez’s use of force to remove Nazario did not violate state law as he had given multiple commands for Nazario to exit the vehicle,” special prosecutor Anton Bell said in his report.
“The problematic issue, however, were Gutierrez’s statements throughout the entire ordeal, which would lead a reasonable person to wonder whether underlying bias was at the root of how and why Nazario was treated in like manner,” Bell wrote, as he cleared Gutierrez of wrongdoing.
The other officer involved, Daniel Crocker, was never charged either.
Because the state consistently fails to hold its own accountable, Nazario was forced to file a lawsuit and that accountability is now being passed to the taxpayers.
“The officers involved not only assaulted Mr. Nazario, but pointed their weapons directly at him and, at some point during the encounter, threatened to kill him,” the suit alleges. “Mr. Nazario recalls that he thought he was going to die that evening.”
Nazario now suffers from anxiety, depression and PTSD from this stop, according to his lawsuit. Though U.S. District Judge Roderick C. Young ruled that Crocker and Gutierrez have qualified immunity for violating Nazario’s constitutional protections against excessive force and unreasonable seizure, as well as Nazario’s right to free speech by threatening him with arrest if he complained about their behavior, there is still legal ground to stand on.
According to ABC 7,
Nazario can present claims under state law of false imprisonment and assault and battery to a jury, the judge ruled. The judge also found Crocker liable for illegally searching for a gun in Nazario’s SUV, leaving the question of damages on that point to a jury. Nazario had a concealed-carry permit for the weapon.
The jury will also consider whether Gutierrez is liable for the illegal search. The former officer denies he knew Crocker was conducting the search.
On that night back in December 2020, Crocker and Gutierrez falsely accused Nazario of having no license plate and then targeted him for a traffic stop. When Crocker turned on his lights to pull Nazario over, Nazario drove to a well lit area and then stopped.
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