Charges dropped against Michigan teen in alleged police brutality case

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Police in Lansing, Michigan have dropped all charges against a 19-year-old Black man whom officers initially said grew violent and resisted arrest. The teenager maintains East Lansing police had no cause to arrest him in the first place and used excessive force, which resulted in deep cuts to his forehead and a swollen eye.

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Uwimana Gasito was arrested and charged with two misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct on Feb. 9 after police responded outside of a 7/11 in East Lansing where Gasito and another man were shoving each other. Police say Gasito was inebriated and that the exchange was getting heated when they arrived. As more and more evidence emerged, the community demanded that the charges be dropped.

Also according to ELPD, City Manager George Lahanas is directing that all charges be dropped against Uwimana Gasito, the subject of the February investigation, in light of this new information.https://t.co/aSuvyxbxyy

— Anna Liz Nichols (@annaliznichols) March 11, 2020

Now the East Lansing Police Department has dropped all charges against Gasito after the former Police Chief Larry Sparkes learned one of the officers involved was also involved in another excessive force complaint in December, according to WILX 10. The East Lansing Police Department has asked the Michigan State Police to conduct an investigation into their handling of the earlier incident.

“We recognize that there are things we need to do to improve our internal review process and we are actively working to make necessary improvements. We apologize to the community for this oversight,” Sparkes said in a press release, reported WILX 10. “This remains a top priority for the police department and we are committed to being transparent with the public as we work through making these improvements.”

The officer accused by Gasito of using excessive force is now on paid administrative leave.

Gasito and his brother had dropped into 7/11 to grab a drink last month. While there, a guy accused Gasito of touching his girlfriend and the two men exchanged words and began pushing each other. Police were called.

Gasito claims when ELPD came, they slammed him to the ground, which resulted in injuries to his forehead and eye. He posted photos of his injuries to social media.

Police conducted their own investigation last month and at the time, Sparkes said there was “insufficient information” to determine whether the officer used excessive force.

During the arrest, Gasito could be heard on the officer’s body camera asking why he was being arrested, and police respond that it’s for disorderly conduct, reported the Lansing State Journal.

Gasito then starts complaining about his eye. “My (expletive) eye, bro” Gasito said on the video, according to the newspaper, adding “the (expletive) is wrong with you” to the officers.

READ MORE: Charges dropped against Black boy charged with assault for hitting classmate during dodgeball

Farhan Sheikh-Omar organized a protest in front of the police department last month. Sheikh-Omar told the Lansing State Journal that it’s implausible that police don’t know how Gasito sustained his face and eye injuries, particularly since he didn’t have those injuries before his police encounter.

Sheikh-Omar also said he wasn’t surprised the East Lansing police investigation couldn’t determine that the officers did anything wrong.

“I knew this was going to happen. What a miscarriage of justice,” he told the Lansing State Journal. “For you guys to accept that as their conclusion, shame on all of you.”