29 Sep 2023Four Louisiana officers charged in ‘Brave Cave’ abuse investigation.Investigation triggered by lawsuits alleging abuse and sexual humiliation of people taken to unmarked torture warehouse
Ramon Antonio Vargas in New Orleans
Fri 29 Sep 2023 14.16 EDT
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Authorities in Louisiana’s capital have charged four of the city’s police officers amid an investigation triggered by lawsuits alleging the abuse and sexual humiliation of people detained and taken to an unmarked torture warehouse dubbed the “Brave Cave”.
The second-in-command of the Baton Rouge police department, deputy chief Troy Lawrence Sr, was among those charged and placed on leave, officials confirmed at a news conference on Friday.
At the center of the case is a man who recently came forward and reported that officers beat him at the local precinct station to which the Brave Cave was attached – before supervisors then took steps to illegally destroy body-worn camera footage of the beating.
Sgt Douglas Chustz as well as officers Jesse Barcelona and Todd Thomas were also charged.
According to the police chief, Murphy Paul, the case dates back to September 2020, when officers with the anti-street crime Baton Rouge Area Violence Elimination – or Brave – unit arrested a man while investigating a complaint. Officers brought the man to a bathroom at their precinct station, tried to make him disrobe to be searched and then shocked him with stun guns, Paul recounted on Friday.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/29/louisiana-police-brave-cave-abuse-officers-charged
This.. is why we can't have nice things.