ASHLAND CITY, Tenn. — Two police officers who strapped an 18-year-old in a restraint chair and tortured him with a taser were arrested and charged with multiple crimes last June.
The horrifying video was so damning that the normal process of sweeping it under the rug was not an option. Sadly, however, the trial for the cop who did the torturing, just concluded last week and ended in a mistrial.
By Matt Agorist / The Free Thought Project
Last year, former Corporal Mark Bryant was charged with two counts of Excessive Force Under the Color of Law, and two counts of Destruction, Alteration or Falsification of Records in Federal Investigations. Sergeant Gary Ola was also charged with two counts of making false statements to federal investigators for lying to them in August of 2017 and again in May of 2018.
In September 2018, Sgt. Gary Ola accepted a plea agreement for two counts of making false statements to FBI agents in connection with the incident. He has yet to be sentenced.
Bryant was facing a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for the color of law charges and 20 years in prison for the obstruction charges, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
Bryant pleaded not guilty and somehow at least one juror agreed with him.
“It was a sad story on both sides, but the jury could not find that Bryant violated the existing jail Taser policy as it existed at the time,” said Peter Strianse, Bryant’s attorney.
Apparently, savagely torturing a completely restrained teenager—repeatedly—with a taser, was fine and dandy according to the jail’s policy.
As The Free Thought Project reported, the nightmare for the victim, 18-year-old Jordan Norris began in November 2016, when a SWAT team raided his home because he was allegedly selling drugs. Selling willing people a substance they want to voluntarily ingest in no way justified the treatment Norris would receive.
