A White officer in Orangeburg, S.C., has been relieved of his duties after being accused of stomping on a defenseless Black man’s head, reports Black Enterprise.
David Lance Dukes, 38, was charged with first-degree assault and battery after video footage showed him stomping on the neck and head of 58-year-old Clarence Gailyard during a July 26 arrest, reports ABC News. After the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division reviewed body camera footage of the arrest, Dukes was fired and hit with the charges. Dukes was responding to a 911 call of a man carrying a gun when he approached Gailyard ordering him to the ground at gunpoint, noted by WLTX.
The SLED agents say that while Gailyard was lying defenseless on the ground, Dukes forcibly stomped on the victim’s neck and head, knocking the victim’s head into the concrete.
However, Dukes’ lawyer, Justin Bamberg, is pointing the finger at the police department, claiming his client was only displaying learned behavior.
