Cops Probed After Beating Maryland Student

Man hit a dozen times with batons at celebration
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 13, 2010 5:23 AM CDT
Updated Apr 13, 2010 7:00 AM CDT

Three Maryland cops are being probed after they were caught on video using their batons to repeatedly beat an unarmed, apparently unthreatening University of Maryland student. The attack occurred as the student was celebrating a basketball game victory on a College Park street with several other students last month. At one point he stands calmly in front of a mounted officer when a trio of cops jump him and beat him as he lay on the ground. He's hit by batons as many as a dozen times.

Prince George prosecutors as well as county police have launched a criminal investigation into the actions of the cops, reports the Washington Post. Once the video surfaced, criminal charges against the student, John McKenna, 21, were dropped. He had been charged with felony suspicion of assaulting officers on horseback. "The video shows the charging documents were nothing more than a cover, a fairy tale they made up to cover for the officers' misconduct," said McKenna's lawyer.
(More corrupt cops stories.)

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