Deputies with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office have been accused of using excessive force following an encounter with an Indianapolis man at a city-county council meeting in early September.
Attorneys for Indianapolis resident and activist Jamaal Shabazz announced the tort claim’s filing on Monday morning.
Shabazz is a well-known Indianapolis activist with a large local following. He is vocal about Black history and social justice issues and has built a following of more than 37,000 people on Instagram.
The claims stem from an encounter between Shabazz and Marion County deputies at a committee meeting on Sept. 9, where the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department proposed its 2027 budget.
During the presentation, protesters interrupted the meeting to voice their frustration over the July shooting death of Dalys Jett by IMPD officers.
After the outburst, deputies escorted several protesters from the assembly hall. Attorneys for Shabazz say he was part of the group who disrupted business proceedings, “yet deputies treated him more harshly and unjustifiably placed their hands on him.”
“Shabazz verbally objected to that physical contact but agreed to leave. He alleges that, while
he was leaving, an officer again battered him and tackled him to the ground, where additional
deputies joined in the physical attack. He suffered injuries to his back and other areas of his
body,” attorneys said in a release.
The tort claim accuses the deputies and the sheriff’s office of battery, excessive force, false arrest, unlawful detention, and violating Shabazz’s First Amendment rights.
“Mr. Shabazz came to this meeting concerned about police brutality and left reporting that he had
experienced it himself,” attorney Hamid Saahir said in a statement. “He agreed to leave. Our position is that the deputies’ subsequent use of force was unjustified and that he was targeted for exercising his
constitutional rights. We intend to pursue accountability for his injuries.”
The claim also requested the “preservation of building surveillance, meeting recordings, reports, and records showing how deputies handled the earlier removals of other attendees.”
This article was written by WISH-TV’s Michaela Springer.
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