A Detroit-Area Officer Who Punched Jaquwan Smith After an Arrest Pleads Guilty

Explore Our Galleries

Slaves captured in the interior being marched to the coast for sale

Eyewitness Account: The Kidnapping of Africans for Slaves

The mammy, Aunt Jemima, offers comfort food

Hateful Things: An Exhibit from the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia

Political Parties in Black and White

Anti-Vietnam War protesters faced National Guard guns with flowers.

Social Movements and Organizations of the 1960s, 70s and 80s

CORE march in Washington DC, 1963, to protest the bombing of the 16th St. Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Four little girls were killed in the attack.

Turning the Tables on Civil Rights: The 1970s and 1980s

The Rosenwald Schools: An Impressive Legacy of Black-Jewish Collaboration for Negro Education

John Carter: A Scapegoat for Anger

Hateful Speech

Inheriting Home: The Skeletons in Pa’s Closet

Breaking News!

Today's news and culture by Black and other reporters in the Black and mainstream media.

Click Here

Ways to Support ABHM?

Click Here

April 9, 2024

By Associated Press

Matthew Rodriguez acknowledged using “unreasonable force” against the 19-year-old while processing him in the fingerprint room at the Warren jail in June.

Footage from video captured now-former Warren Police officer Matthew Rodriguez (right) punching Jaquwan Smith (left), a man under arrest, in the city jail’s fingerprinting area, then slamming his head against the floor and pushing him into a cell. (Photo: Screenshot/YouTube.com/Detroit Free Press)

WARREN, Mich. (AP) — A suburban Detroit police officer who punched a young Black man in the face and slammed his head to the ground pleaded guilty Monday to a federal civil rights violation.

Matthew Rodriguez acknowledged using “unreasonable force” against the 19-year-old man while processing him in the fingerprint room at the Warren jail in June. He also admitted that he made false statements about the incident.

Jaquwan Smith “was not physically resisting arrest or attempting to escape,” Rodriguez’ plea agreement states.

Continue the article.

Learn how we can work to achieve racial repair and reconciliation.

Read about Louisville police using excessive force on a Black man and a Black man, wrongfully imprisoned for 16 years, who was then shot and killed by police in a traffic stop.

Find more breaking news like this.

Comments Are Welcome

Note: We moderate submissions in order to create a space for meaningful dialogue, a space where museum visitors – adults and youth –– can exchange informed, thoughtful, and relevant comments that add value to our exhibits.

Racial slurs, personal attacks, obscenity, profanity, and SHOUTING do not meet the above standard. Such comments are posted in the exhibit Hateful Speech. Commercial promotions, impersonations, and incoherent comments likewise fail to meet our goals, so will not be posted. Submissions longer than 120 words will be shortened.

See our full Comments Policy here.