3 Officers Responsible for Bloody Martese Johnson Arrest Back on Duty

The three Virginia Department of Alcohol Beverage Control agents who were filmed arresting a bloodied University of Virginia student named Martese Johnson in March are back on duty.

According to an official press release, the three unidentified agents were cleared of of any wrongdoing following a third party investigation conducted by the Virginia State Police, a separate entity from the ABC. However, the official investigation’s report will not be released to the public.

“After thoroughly reviewing the incident and the report,” notes the release, “Virginia ABC concluded that the agents did not violate agency policy and returned these special agents to active duty today.”

A previously-released police report in May suggested that the three arresting agents knew that Johnson wasn’t actually drunk, but they arrested him on suspicion of public intoxication anyway. This was later confirmed in June when prosecutors declined to charge Johnson with anything.

Monday’s decision to reinstate them officers immediately comes from the “[ABC’s] chief operating officer, board members, and Bureau of Law Enforcement representatives,” according to a department spokesperson’s statement to BuzzFeed.

Meanwhile, the release says department personnel underwent special training sessions on ” use of force, cultural diversity, effective interaction with youth and community policing” in June and July.

[h/t BuzzFeed]
[Image via screengrab]

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