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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 24, 2020)
June 24, 2020 Page 5 Suit Claims Unjust Force on Young Black Male Sheriff denies neck hold was used The mother of a young African American male filed a $300,000 lawsuit Thursday, saying three sheriff’s deputies pinned him to the ground at the Clackamas Town Center Mall — one by press- ing a knee on his neck, after the 12-year-old witnessed a fight and was walking away. The incident happened last August, over nine months before widespread national outrage over the killing of George Floyd af- ter he was put in a similar hold by Minneapolis police. The boy, Ka’Mar Benbo, is now 13 but was 12 at the time and the friends he was with repeatedly told Clacka- mas County deputies his age, the lawsuit said. In an emailed statement, Sheriff Craig Roberts disputed the allega- tions and said an investigation did not find any evidence that a deputy placed a knee on the boy’s neck. The deputies were responding to a call about a “large group of ju- veniles following and physically assaulting a female juvenile” and Benbo was briefly detained and handcuffed because he was the only person who refused to follow orders from deputies, Roberts said. “We do not train deputies to re- strict a person’s airway or impede their ability to breathe. It was de- termined the involved deputies followed training and policy,” he wrote, adding that the sheriff’s department participated in a “lis- tening session” last October over concerns about the incident. Roberts said the investigation included a review of photos and videos and interviews with wit- nesses and deputies. But Benbo’s Video released by a Portland law firm shows a Clackamas County Sheriff’s Deputy restraining a 12-year-old black male at Clackamas Town Center last August, and a photo taken after the incident shows bruises to his head. A lawsuit claims a Clackamas County sheriff’s deputy used unjust force by placing his knee on the boy’s neck. him not to move and don’t reach for anything,” said McDavid. The deputies ultimately let Benbo go and no criminal charges were filed. The lawsuit says Ben- bo suffered scrapes and bruises, headaches, loss of sleep and feel- ings of racial stigmatization and “fear of police.” McDavid filed a complaint the day after the incident with the A family photo shows Ka’Mar Benbo in July, when he was 12. (Photo courtesy Jarena McDavid) mother, Jarena McDavid, was not interviewed and neither was the child, the family’s attorney, accord to Jason Kafoury, the family’s at- torney. “They elbow him in the head and then they take him to the ground, handcuff him and put the knee to the neck and leave him there for several minutes,” Kafoury said. “No police report was generated and they never in- terviewed my client about what happened.” Chris Owen, spokesman for the Clackamas County District Attorney, said nothing had been submitted to prosecutors on the incident. “If we get presented the necessary information, we will certainly evaluate it,” he said. Kafoury said Benbo was a witness to a fight between two girls he didn’t know at Clacka- mas Town Center, which is in the suburbs south of Portland. Mall security called police and as Ben- bo and his friends were leaving the mall’s parking lot, responding deputies grabbed him by the arm, Kafoury said. Benbo’s mother said one of her son’s friends called her to tell her what was happening after Benbo screamed out, “Please, call my mom!” “It was terrifying. I didn’t know what was happening. I just wanted sheriff’s office. The sheriff’s of- fice wrote her a letter saying “we have completed a thorough inves- tigation” and the deputy was ex- onerated. “I can only imagine the fear a parent has for their child of color engaging with police. I know that there is nothing I can say to make their worry go away. What I can say is: I will do my part to make sure that we use appropriate force and that every use of force contin- ues to be reviewed by my agency,” Roberts said in his statement. Authorities told McDavid they didn’t call her about the incident at the time because her son wasn’t injured, she said. The lawsuit in- cludes photographs that show c ontinued on p age 12