The Department of Justice has announced it is monitoring the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) after the brutal beating of 24-year-old Le’Keian Woods.
The decision comes after Woods’ attorneys, civil rights lawyer Harry Daniels petitioned the Justice Department (DOJ) earlier this month.
In the letter to Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, Daniels said Woods was attacked by members of the JSO’s Gang Unit after the vehicle he was a passenger in was pulled over for a seat belt violation.
Calling the attack “vicious and unwarranted,” Daniels described how Gang Unit members hit Woods multiple times. Woods sustained several punches to his face and was kneed multiple times in the head. The attorney also said that after Woods was detained, officers then “violently slammed” his head into the ground, despite the fact that he had hand restraints on and was already bleeding profusely from the initial beating.
Video of the beating, which went viral on social media, corroborates the attorneys’ statement on what happen. In the video, both uniformed and plain clothes officers with the JSO Gang Unit engaged in the beating.
Woods, who was unarmed at the time of the stop, was admitted to University of Florida Health Shands hospital for his injuries. The beating left Woods with his eyes swollen shut, a closed head injury and a ruptured kidney.
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) condemned the beating and the gang unit, which they said had a history of abusive conduct.
“Without shame, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office then claimed it seemed ‘appropriate’ for officers to knee, punch, and elbow an unarmed man until he wheezed in pain with a swollen face full of blood,” Janai Nelson, LDF president and director-counsel, said in a statement. “This disturbing confession raises serious alarm about the type of conduct and unchecked violence that the Sheriff’s office considers to be ‘appropriate.’ This is part of a pattern of abusive conduct by members of the gang unit…and carries deeply concerning implications for the safety of Black Jacksonville residents.”
Nelson added that the DOJ must investigate if officers violated Woods’ civil rights and called for the Gang Unit to be disbanded, given “the very real harm these specialized units continue to inflict on Black communities across the country.”
Daniels compared Woods’ injuries to the beating of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who was beaten to death by members of a specialized squad of the Memphis Police in January.
“This is what happens when a rogue sector of a law enforcement agency goes unchecked by their superiors,” Daniels said in his letter.
But Woods is one of several unarmed people of color to be beaten by members of JSO, Daniels said, and the office investigates their own use of force allegations rather than asking an outside agency to conduct an independent investigation.
“As you probably can guess, JSO historically justifies its officers’ use of force in almost every use of force allegation or incident,” Daniels wrote.
The DOJ’s investigation will determine if there is a pattern or practice of unlawful conditions by the department.
“Sheriff [T.K.] Waters and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office may not take this kind of brazen and unapologetic violence seriously. But the DOJ sure does,” Daniels said in a statement on Tuesday. “Some of the stories we’ve heard are downright terrifying and it’s encouraging to know that now the JSO’s victims have somewhere to turn for justice.”
The beating of Woods, which happened on Sept. 29, is similar to the 2019 killing of 22-year-old Jamee Johnson, who was also pulled over for an alleged seat belt violation before being fatally shot by JSO officer Josue Garriga. Garriga also participated in the Woods beating.
“Let’s be clear. These officers beat Le’Keian Woods without mercy and without fear of consequence,” personal injury attorney Marwan Porter, who is also representing Woods, said in a statement.
“But this goes beyond that. This is about the culture of violence and abuse within the Sheriff’s Department that says their officers are above the law. This is about ending that abuse and holding the abusers accountable once and for all.”