Imagine being sound asleep, tucked away in the safety of your parents suburban home, only to be awakened by police officers with weapons drawn, punching, tasering and dragging you from your bedroom. This is exactly what happened to then 18-year-old high school student, DeShawn Franklin.
“I didn’t even know what was going on. I was just asleep,” Franklin told The Washington Post. African-American with a slender build and dreadlocks, Deshawn Franklin’s only crime was fitting the description of a suspect that police were after. Upon realizing that they had arrested the wrong person, the young man was still handcuffed and placed in a squad car for resisting.
The incident, which took place in Indiana in 2012, prompted a civil rights lawsuit against the officers who, earlier this month were found guilty of violating Franklin’s constitutional rights by entering the family’s home without a warrant, and arresting the young man. With that guilty verdict, the defendants were ordered to pay $1 each for the violation, bringing a total award of $18 in damages for the traumatizing event.
Russell Thomas Jr., Franklin’s nephew said, “to me, it’s just solidifying that blacks in America, we have no rights,” he said. “How can we fight for something when the system was not made for us in the first place?”
After the incident, police officers were put through training on fair and impartial policing.
In an interview with The Washington Post, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg said, “One thing that’s really important is that people don’t get the impression that civil rights are not taken seriously and that constitutional rights are not valued.”
He went on to call DeShawn Franklin an “outstanding young man.”
