Trial set for Black soldier suing police over violent stop

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January 7, 2023

By Ben Finley, Associated Press

A trial in federal court in Richmond is set to begin Monday, Jan.9, 2023, for the lawsuit filed by the U.S. Army lieutenant, shown in the video, who was pepper sprayed, struck and handcuffed by police during a traffic stop but never arrested.(Windsor Police via AP, File)

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A U.S. Army lieutenant who was pepper sprayed, struck and handcuffed by police in rural Virginia, but never arrested, will argue to a jury that he was assaulted and falsely imprisoned and that his vehicle was illegally searched.

Video of the 2020 traffic stop got millions of views the next year after Caron Nazario filed the federal lawsuit that is now being heard, highlighting fears of mistreatment among Black drivers and intensifying the scrutiny of the boundaries of reasonable, and legal, police conduct.

The episode also served as a grim signal to many Black Americans that military uniforms don’t necessarily protect against abuse of authority by law enforcement.

The trial is scheduled to begin Monday in federal court in Richmond.

The Associated Press has details of the video.

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