This video is not for queasy people, but shows the extent to which officials will go to represent state authority on a personal level to one held in its control. (80 seconds, Video YouTube)
Deputies tortured a prisoner in Cheatham County on Nov. 5, 2016, using stun guns at point-blank range and holding the trigger as shocks went through the body of a young man secured in what’s called a “restraint chair.”
A grand jury in Cheatham County, just west of Nashville, indicted Mark Bryant, 39 after a probe. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said that officers removed Jordan Norris, 19, from a booking sale after he became violent toward himself and other inmates.
He was secured in a restraint chair and a deputy shocked him repeatedly by stun gun, one charge lasting 25 seconds. Other officers lolled about during the session.
Mr. Norris filed a civil rights case in U.S. District Court, accusing Mr. Bryant and two other deputies with deprivation of his rights, use of excessive force and failure to protect.
According to reports, Cheatham County Sheriff Michael Breedlove says, “As sheriff, I’m sad this happened within our jail. We have taken all necessary steps to prevent this from happening again. On my watch, excessive force will never be tolerated.”
He called the abusive act “a terrible mistake.” The sheriff said Mr. Bryant was fired and that Josh Marriott and Jeff Key are on paid vacation.
The lawsuit says Mr. Bryant acted in “sadistic and malicious nature in repeatedly tasing Plaintiff Norris, such that the force was unreasonable.” Though the teenager was in a restraint chair, the deputy cried he should “stop resisting.”
“I’ll keep on doing that until I run out of batteries,” Officer Bryant says in the video of the torture session.
Mr. Bryant was booked Wednesday in jail and placed under a F$75,000 bond.
Sources
Amy Nixon, “Cheatham County corrections officer arrested, charged for allegedly using stun gun on restrained inmate,” The Tennessean, Sept. 6, 2017.
Amy Nixon, “3 deputies placed on leave after lawsuit claims excessive force was used on teen inmate,” The Tennessean, July 28, 2017.
