TBI Investigates Reports of Torture at Rutherford County Jail

TBI Investigates Reports of Torture at Rutherford County Jail

The TBI is investigating a claim that a Rutherford County Deputy sprayed a restrained inmate with pepper spray. The case is currently being fought in federal court.

According to a court complaint, Demario Harris said his “constitutional rights were violated” while he was an inmate under the custody of Rutherford County deputies. The complaint filed in federal court can be viewed here (PDF). A concerned citizen uploaded surveillance video of the incident on YouTube (Courtesy Rutherford Beacon). The citizen who uploaded it has given FOX 17 permission to air it.

On December 9, 2013, Murfreesboro Police arrested Harris for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Thirty-seven seconds into the YouTube video, Rutherford County Deputy James Stephen Vanderveer appears to shake something in his hands and spray it in Harris’ eyes.

“Just plain wrong,” Ric Mills said, Rutherford County resident. “I see no necessary reason to use pepper spray on a subdued inmate,” Brandon Blythe, Rutherford County Resident. According to the lawsuit, Harris claimed he “wasn’t resisting, aggressive or combative,” yet the deputies used “planned force.”

Harris also claimed Deputy Vanderveer sprayed “chemical agent Freeze + P” or pepper spray into Harris’ eyes while Deputy Jessica Leigh Green held Harris down. “I’d kind of like to know what happened before the video footage I saw- what the inmate did to call this course of action to take place,” Blythe said. (continue reading at Fox17)

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