Report: DOJ Declined to Pursue Civil Rights Claims at Slaughterhouse - Articles

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Report: DOJ Declined to Pursue Civil Rights Claims at Slaughterhouse

Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Aug 8, 2022

The U.S. Justice Department declined to pursue a civil rights investigation of a federal agent allegedly captured on video placing his boot on the neck of a Latino worker at a Grainger County slaughterhouse, Tennessee Lookout reports. The department’s refusal to probe the actions of agent John Witsell in the April 2018 raid on Southeastern Provision was disclosed in a recent filing in U.S. district court. The motion states that the department’s Civil Rights Division was notified of the alleged excessive force but, within days, decided not to conduct a formal inquiry. The motion also reveals that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Professional Responsibility declined to take disciplinary action against Witsell. Latino workers at the slaughterhouse have filed a civil rights conspiracy suit, arguing they were targeted solely because of their race or ethnicity. They claim they were handcuffed, detained without any proof of wrongdoing, mocked and brutalized. As part of their suit, they are seeking access to the video in question.