A CPD officer in a newly released video of a man being beaten in custody was captured in other viral footage the same year.

One of two Chicago police officers caught in a video released this week of a man beaten in custody was also caught in footage of a suspect beaten on a city street the same year. the record shows.

Damian Stewart and community organizer William Calloway hold a press conference at City Hall to discuss a video of the custodial beating that occurred after Stewart was arrested after a traffic stop and charged with aggravated battery against a police officer. rice field.

Calling for the dismissal of the officer who punched Stewart, Callaway said, “There is no room for such indiscriminate violence against an unarmed man already in police custody.” “It’s unsolicited and terrifying.”

Stewart decided to release and speak security footage from the Chicago Police Department in 2019 after learning the news about Tyre Nichols, a black man who was fatally injured by a Memphis police officer. Callaway said while confined.

Two officers involved in Stewart’s case, Gerald Williams and Enrique Delgado Fernandez, have both been suspended. Following the suspension, Fernandez received a 10-day suspension in April 2022.

Records identify Fernandez as the officer who assaulted Stewart.

Williams was also involved in another police brutality the same year as Stewart’s beating, records show.

In November 2019, a video went viral by a bystander of a Chicago police officer slapping Bernard Kirsch, then 29, after authorities claimed he had spat in the officer’s face. The officer was later identified as Williams by the same star number in a Civil Police Accountability Service report on the body slam.

A CPD spokesperson said the punishment Williams received for the bodyslamming incident could not be disclosed, and said the punishment is being appealed through the complaints process.

However, the organization recommended a 45-day suspension for Williams over the incident, according to Civil Police Accountability Service records. At the time, Superintendent General David Brown considered the recommendations too lenient and called for a 135-day suspension.

The lawsuit filed by Kirsch alleges that Williams was a trained mixed martial arts fighter known as “Bacon and Eggs” and that his actions were intended to inflict “punishment or retribution” rather than exacerbate the situation. It is claimed that

At some point since that incident, Williams was promoted to sergeant and earns $117,900 a year, according to city records. Attempts to contact attorneys for Williams and both officers were unsuccessful.

In the video of Stewart’s beating, Stewart appeared to be sleeping in his cell and was woken by two police officers on May 18, 2019.

During their exchange, one of the officers touches Stewart’s head and appears to walk away, and Stewart approaches the officer from behind. I can see it. The two wrestle on the bed, the second officer holding Stewart down and the first officer continuing to punch Stewart.

“It was just shocking,” Stewart said. “I was already at the station, and I honestly couldn’t believe it…. It was like I was already here because I have to face the consequences of my actions that brought me to the station.” I’m ready to end this process, so when these cops got back out there, I didn’t know it would lead to that.”

“I’m already asleep in my cell. So what was the search? It seems like they kind of messed with me and harassed me.”

According to Stewart and Callaway, Stewart sued the police department and settled for $45,000.

The release of Stewart’s beating video comes amid nationwide protests after police pulled Nichols, a 29-year-old black man who worked for FedEx and was the father of a 4-year-old son, out of his car. . A police officer from Memphis’ “Scorpions” street crime unit has been arrested on suspicion of reckless driving.

In that video Nichols is shown being held down, kicked, beaten and tasted. Five police officers have been charged with murder.

[ Legal experts fear Chicago’s slow police reforms could lead to a Tyre Nichols incident here 8 years after Laquan McDonald firestorm ]

In Fernandez’s interview with COPA, he said he and Williams and another officer stopped Stewart after observing a traffic violation, the report said. During the stoppage, a physical struggle ensued as Stewart refused to follow their orders and had a firearm pointed at Fernandez.

At the station, Fernandez said he learned Stewart had been taken directly to the lockup rather than being put in a room in the processing area, according to reports. Fernandez told COPA that he went to lockup to search for Stewart because he couldn’t.

When Fernandez told Stewart he would be searched, Stewart responded with obscene language and said he did not want to be searched, but they were able to conduct the search, the report said.

At the end of the search, Fernandez said he put his hand on Stewart’s head and “randomly checked for anything he might have overlooked” and told COPA something to the effect of: It’s over. “

Stewart puffed out his chest and approached him, breathing heavily, and Fernandez believed Stewart would fight, the report said. But Stewart pushed back.

Fernandez then hit Stewart with a closed hand, reports said. He denied using force as punishment or retaliation for street fighting.

In Williams’ interview with COPA about the incident with Stewart, Williams said that when he arrived at the police station, he returned to Mirandaise’s lockup to conduct a more thorough search and see if Stewart was wearing extra clothing. According to COPA’s final summary report on the incident, he was driven under the influence.

Williams did not ask the sergeant for permission to enter the lockup, he told COPA.

COPA reported that Fernandez’s behavior was “unprofessional and emotional” and he began contact with Stewart in a disrespectful manner, leading to the incident.

COPA found that Fernandez had entered Stewart’s cell without permission. He initiated the physical act without justification; without justification he put his right and left arms around Stewart’s neck. According to reports, they used force as punishment or reprisal and failed to complete a post-force tactical response report. COPA is recommending him his 15-day suspension.

Stewart is currently under house arrest for fleeing and fleeing an incident that occurred after the lockup attack. Callaway, which heads a faith-based nonprofit called Christianaire, is recruiting Stewart to join the South Shore’s Second Chance Violence Prevention Program, Passport for Peace, but Stewart is free to travel for electronic surveillance. said it was difficult.

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