Jatiek Reed has been officially cleared of the three drug possession charges that resulted in a videotaped beating from the NYPD. The District Attorney’s office in the Bronx claims that the charges were dropped due to insufficiency evidence. Reed has yet to press charges against the four officers that were caught on video repetitively kicking him. The officers involved were put on modified assignments and stripped of their weapons. Many say that the DA is neglecting their ethical responsibility to investigate this case further. The Huffington Post reports:
The Bronx District Attorney has dropped charges against Jateik Reed, the 19-year-old captured on video (see below) receiving an excessive beating at the hands of four NYPD officers. According to The Wall Street Journal, Bronx DA Robert Johnson, “said his office was dropping three drug possession charges, two counts of assault and a harassment charge police filed…because prosecutors would be ‘unable to meet our burden of proof at trial.’”
What remains unclear, however, is whether Johnson will pursue charges against the officers in the incident, who can be seen in the video kicking and punching Reed after they’ve already handcuffed him. Police commissioner Ray Kelly called Reed’s arrest “troubling,” and officials at the time said the four officers involved were placed on modified assignment and stripped of their guns and badges.
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