A federal immigrant agent who took part in a discriminatory raid that singled out Latino workers at a Tennessee meatpacking plant in April 2018 had fought against the release of surveillance footage showing part of the sweep. That’s because the video showed the agent violently placing his boot on a worker’s neck for 25 seconds.
Media outlet Tennessee Lookout had been in court pushing for the video’s release as part of its ongoing reporting into the raid that swept up Latinos and immigrants, including those with work authorization, but left their white colleagues alone. Citing public interest, the judge last week sided with Tennessee Lookout. The video was then released by NBC News.
RELATED STORY: 'No white workers were arrested': Court approves class action status for Latinos targeted in raid
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The footage depicts a worker running into the meatpacking plant’s locker room as he’s pursued by a number of agents. NBC News’ Julia Ainsley notes that the worker, a Honduran man who has since been deported, does not resist agents once they physically restrain him. Yet the agent, identified as John Witsell, places his foot on the man’s neck for 25 seconds. Ainsley said she spoke to a law enforcement expert who has reviewed similar cases and called the action “completely unnecessary” and “incredibly dangerous.”
Tennessee Lookout reports that U.S. Magistrate Judge Christopher Steger ruled the public “should be allowed to view the video,” noting video “sought to be sealed relates to police conduct during a raid at a slaughterhouse in Tennessee. The public has a strong interest in understanding how law enforcement performs its critically important duties,” and that “transparency is necessary to prevent abuses.”
The federal government had also been brawling against detained workers who had been seeking class action status, a despicable move that could have forced each of the 104 workers to launch individual lawsuits against federal departments. But earlier this month, a judge sided with the workers. Witsell also reportedly struck another worker during the raid. There’s reportedly footage of that assault as well, but it has not been publicly seen. Warning: The newly released footage is disturbing.
Tennessee Lookout had previously reported that it had obtained documents showing the raid on the plant was initially a tax investigation against the owner, but then turned into an anti-immigrant plan under the racist policies of the previous administration. “This raid was conducted in an unnecessarily violent, humiliating and demeaning manner toward Latino workers,” National Immigration Law Center’s Michelle Lapointe said.
The organization has been advocating for workers alongside the Southern Poverty Law Center; pro bono attorneys Eben P. Colby, Jeremy A. Berman, Arthur R. Bookout; and the law firms of Sherrard, Roe, Voigt & Harbison, and Sperling & Slater. They said federal agents leading up to the day of the raids “frequently discussed arresting Hispanic workers and conflated Hispanic ethnicity with illegal status,” and in at least two other instances noted that they would be processing Latino workers before even one single worker had been detained. Not one white worker was detained.
“The federal lawsuit alleges claims of conspiracy to violate workers’ equal protection rights, excessive force, and false arrest.” Tennessee Lookout reported workers “were subjected to humiliation and, in at least two instances, brutality.” That is more than clear from the video.
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