MPD Dash Cam Footage Reviewed After Police Brutality Allegation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stHfkvwZVT8

In Meridian, after Ward 5 councilman, Weston Lindemann, requested police reports following the arrest of a Meridian man.

According to Levi Gibbs he was brutality attacked by police following a traffic stop, but recently released police dash cam video showed quite the opposite.

The allegations made stem from an arrest made by the Meridian Police Department on March 27th. In a letter, sent to city officials, Levi Gibbs claimed he was punched and kicked numerous times by officers following his traffic stop.

It was shared that no formal report of this incident was filed, the City of Meridian and the Meridian Police Department provided dash cam footage from the evening of Gibbs’ arrest and the following day when he was transported to another jail for Councilman Lindemann and City Council President Kim Houston to review.

“We got a request from councilman Lindemann on information about this case, which is –they’re right to do that, they want to get to the bottom of it and so do we, and I’m please to say we reviewed the information that was provided in the case, the film, and in all of our minds this was a non-starter from the beginning”, said Eddie Kelly, CAO of Meridian.

“In both instances its impossible for us to conclude that there was any instance of police brutality, in fact the civilian was –in our opinion, clearly resisting arrest. There was also an EMT report filled out as a result of an ambulance being called and this showed that the civilian in question actually signed, waiving his right to additionally medical treatment. With all these things considered, we want the public to understand, we take these situations seriously and if Mr. Gibbs feels that justice has been denied in this case, there is civil action he could pursue”, said Weston Lindemann, Ward 5 councilman.

A rally promoting “Justice & Peace for Levi Gibbs” was scheduled on Saturday, but due to the outcome of this investigation, organizer N’spire Walker shared that she is hoping to redirect the purpose of the rally, but still continuing to stand against police brutality.

“ From here on out the main thing that I connected with or I’m grateful for, we are having things put into place so that –hey, if you feel like you have any kind of injustice that’s been brought towards you, okay, now there will be steps put into place other than to help alleviate certain issues and a way of being proactive”, said N’spire Walker, Dream Team of The South organizer.

There are plans to release the dash cam video from the incident for public records by Friday June 26th.