On July 7, 2012, DeShawn Franklin, a then-18-year-old high school student, was a victim of police misconduct and brutality, perpetrated by three South Bend Police Officers-- Aaron Knepper, Michael Stuk, and Eric Mentz. These officers forcibly entered Franklin's home without a warrant, and with guns drawn, wrested him from his bed while he lay asleep, punched him three times, tasered and dragged him, and detained him in a police vehicle;only to realize they had the wrong person.

DeShawn’s parents, fearing for their lives and their son’s life, watched helplessly as their child was brutalized by officers who are paid to serve and protect the South Bend community.  

Four years later, on July 29, 2016, a federal jury ruled that the Franklin family’s constitutional 4th amendments rights were violated. Although the officers were found guilty of unlawful search and seizure, it was determined that financial restitution to the family was worth no more than $18.

Yes, $18. 

Both the mayor and the South Bend Police Department (SBPD) have been noticeably silent on this case of injustice.

In fact, to add insult to injury, the Franklins and their attorney were ordered to pay around $1,500 to the city for expenses it incurred related to the case.   

The South Bend Police Department also stationed a police armadillo outside of the Franklin household in order to further intimidate the Franklin family, according to a South Bend Police Department whistle-blower. 

The same officers involved in the Franklins' situation have also been targeted in other complaints.

During the summer of 2012, a clerk at a local 7-Eleven store complained that the same three officers had bullied him, slashed his tires and pressured him into swallowing a tablespoon of cinnamon — a stunt sometimes referred to as the "cinnamon challenge."

The clerk said Knepper, Mentz and Stuk offered him $30 and an Applebee's gift card to take the challenge. The clerk tried it and ended up vomiting for several hours, he claimed in a lawsuit he filed against the officers in May 2013. The officers also challenged him to eat 10 crackers in one minute, which he started to do but did not finish, records show.

Each of the officers was suspended without pay for the cinnamon stunt. Earlier this year, the clerk settled the lawsuit with the city for $8,000, according to documents provided by the city in response to a public records request.

Last year, Knepper was named in another lawsuit against the city after he was involved in a March 2014 arrest and altercation that led to the injury of Tom Stevens, a former city golf champion.

That incident came after Knepper tried to stop Stevens at Sunnymede Avenue and Twyckenham Drive on an accusation of running a stop sign and driving without headlights. During an ensuing struggle, Knepper and Stevens exchanged punches before Stevens suffered a serious injury to the back of his head, causing a brain bleed that left him hospitalized for several days. Prosecutors later cleared Knepper of criminal charges, saying Stevens' head was injured after he fell backward on a concrete driveway.

The latest high-profile incident involving Knepper happened Aug. 20, when he and another officer struggled with Notre Dame football player Devin Butler outside the Linebacker bar. Police said Butler assaulted Knepper after officers tried to separate Butler from two women who were fighting. Butler was arrested and charged with resisting law enforcement and battery on a police officer. Two witnesses associated with Butler dispute the police account, contending police tackled Butler from behind without identifying themselves.

This is a travesty of justice, full stop!

The family issued the following demands:

1. The immediate termination of Officer Aaron Knepper;  
2. The immediate resignation or termination of  Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski; and
3.  That both Mayor Pete Buttigieg and the South Bend Police Department issue a public apology to the Franklin family for the trauma they've endured, and continue to endure, since July 2012. 

For more details about the case, please read the following article by The Indianapolis Star: http://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/columnists/suzette-hackney/2016/08/27/hackney-case-civil-rights-worth/89431286/

#JusticefortheFranklinFamily

#BlackLivesMatter