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Florida sheriff's deputy is under investigation after a video showed him slamming a handcuffed teenager against a wall and threatening to show him "what f---ing freedom of speech is." - The
Palm Beach Sheriff's Office told Insider in a statement that Sheriff Ric Bradshaw "does not condone the behavior of our deputy." - The deputy has been placed on administrative leave.
- A probable cause affidavit did not mention the interaction in which the deputy shoved the teen against the wall, and only said he was arrested on trespassing charges "without further incident."
The Palm Beach Sheriff's Office has placed a deputy on administrative leave and launched an investigation after the deputy was seen in a video pressing a Black handcuffed teenager against a wall and saying, "I'll show you what f---ing freedom of speech is."
A spokeswoman for the sheriff's office told Insider that "Sheriff [Ric] Bradshaw does not condone the behavior of our deputy and takes this matter very seriously."
The video, which has spread widely across social media, showed the deputy handcuffing 19-year-old Kevin Wygant, who could be heard telling the deputy, "Yes, I do have the freedom of speech."
"Not to us, you don't," the deputy responded.
"Oh, I don't have the freedom of speech to you?" Wygant said.
"F--- no," the deputy replied, grabbing the back of Wygant's shirt and shoving him face-first into the wall. "F--- with me and I'll show you what f---ing freedom of speech is."
The video garnered attention after civil rights attorney Ben Crump tweeted the clip, calling the deputy's actions "UNACCEPTABLE behavior!!"
—Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) August 17, 2020
Wygant told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that Crump — who is representing the family of Minneapolis police victim George Floyd — is now also representing him.
Wygant was arrested on a trespassing charge and released the next day
Wygant told the newspaper he was arrested by the deputy after he tried to deescalate a fight at a Wellington restaurant. He added that deputies initially said he could leave, but one changed his mind and said he would be arrested for trespassing.
A probable cause affidavit obtained Insider said deputies were called to the restaurant and asked to "remove several individuals" because they were trespassing and "causing a disturbance."
The report said Wygant was asked several times by Sgt. James Benedict to leave the front of the restaurant, though he kept returning.
"When Wygant kept coming back several times defying Sgt. Benedict's order to leave the restaurant area he was placed under
The report did not detail the interaction in which the deputy shoved Wygant against the wall, and only said Wygant was arrested "without further incident."
Public jail records show that Wygant was arrested on the trespassing charge on August 15 and released the next day on his own recognizance.
He told the Sun Sentinel he was relieved the encounter was captured on video.
"If there was no video, I believe that in this day and age, I would be another victim to how the police treat everyone and especially, I hate to say it, but my color of skin," he said. "He just felt so empowered over me that he completely stripped me of my rights and I don't think that's morally right."
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- In February, Chicago cops burst into Sharon Lyons' home, guns drawn, shouting, 'GET THE F--- DOWN!' The drug suspect they were looking for wasn't connected to her home.
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