KANSAS CITY(AP) — A Kansas City man who was prosecuted after filming two police officers who he thought were being too aggressive in their arrest of a black transgender woman is suing the city and the officers.
Roderick Reed contends in his lawsuit that the charges against him were an attempt to stop him from releasing the video of the May 2019 arrest of Breona or “Bryia” Hill by officers Matthew Brummett and Charles Prichard.
Police said Reed was arrested because he refused the officers' commands to move his car, which he had stopped in the middle of the street to record the arrest. Reed was convicted of a city ordinance violation, but Mayor Quinton Lucas pardoned him last week.
A grand jury indicted Brummett and Prichard on a misdemeanor assault charge for “recklessly causing pain” to Hill while she was handcuffed. Prosecutors cited Reed's video of the arrest when the charges were announced.
Reed said in the lawsuit, filed Friday in Jackson County Circuit Court, that he started recording the arrest after he saw an officer hit Hill. Reed, who never got out of his car, ignored officers' orders to move the vehicle and continued recording because he “believed that Hill would be killed" if he stopped.
Reed is seeking $5 million in damages for false imprisonment and malicious prosecution.
Jamie Walker, Reed’s attorney, said the prosecution was obviously retaliation and suggested Reed was a Good Samaritan whom the city should have commended, not condemned.
Kansas City police spokeswoman Doaa El-Ashkar said in a statement that the police department “regrets all of the circumstances surrounding this incident” but could not comment further because of the pending litigation.
Last week, the City Council approved an amendment to the city code that ensures witnesses aren’t barred from filming the actions of police officers.