The city of Garfield Heights reached a settlement agreement in a federal civil-rights lawsuit that alleged that Robert Spencer was subjected to police brutality in July 2017, simply for 'laughing while black.'
The settlement calls for the city to pay Spencer $80,000, but must also “provide mandatory and adequate training to all active-duty police officers” on the First Amendment and other constitutional and civil rights.
According to the suit filed by The Chandra Law Firm, Spencer was in his front yard with local children on July 7, 2017, when Garfield Heights police officers drove a patrol car down his street. The officers apparently believed Spencer was making threats to them as they drove by, then resorted to violence without provocation when he insulted them. The complaint further alleged that the officers arrested him and beat him at the police station where he was unconstitutionally pressed into labor, and threatened to destroy evidence.
The lawsuit claims that the officers confirmed their motivation on videotape: to punish Spencer’s speech. “All you had to do was shut the %#$ up,” one officer said. “We weren’t even going to arrest you.” They told Spencer that “saying stuff to us when we drive by” justified investigation, arrest, detention, beatings, and prosecution—all of which he could have avoided by “keep[ing] his mouth shut when we came out.”
Patrick Kabat, one of Spencer’s attorneys, said in a statement, “We commend Garfield Heights for promptly committing to addressing the issues Mr. Spencer’s ordeal exposed. Our constitutional rights do not enforce themselves, and violations can never be undone, but adequate training is a vital first step towards ensuring that citizens’ rights will not be ignored by those sworn to protect.”