On July 31, 2024, Kentucky State Police Trooper Myron Jackson took exception to Christen Johnson, a dental assistant and mom of 3 young children, silently filming his illegal traffic stop from her front porch. Trooper Jackson stormed up to Christen and threatened her, “Go inside of the house or I will take you from your kids and take you to jail.”
When Christen remained filming on her porch, Trooper Jackson grabbed her, forcefully pulled her from her porch, and dragged her across the ground. Christen’s two, seven, and ten-year-old children screamed and cried, watching helplessly as their mother was violently hand- cuffed and dragged away to jail. When she got out of jail the next day, she was forced to walk several miles home, and when she got there, she found her children gone.
Road construction workers are facing felony assault and kidnapping charges after claiming they were the ones assaulted by a mystery driver. Even though the workers told the responding officers they believed the perpetrator was drunk, they let him drive away without a DUI investigation. It’s a secret case sealed by the courts, and authorities won’t say the name of that driver. As it turns out, the mystery driver was an off-duty police officer. Ten days after the incident, the workers were scheduled to have a TV news interview about the assault by the mystery off-duty cop. But instead, police officers arrested them prior to the interview.
On October 16, 2021, the life of Silvester Hayes was altered forever. That morning, Hayes woke up early and went out to get breakfast for his four young children. While driving to get their favorite meal, which was french toast from a restaurant only a few blocks away from their home, Silvester encountered two Dallas police officers. He did not return to his kids with breakfast. Now a lawsuit has been filed and the bodycam footage has been released.
The lawsuit alleges the existence of a Texas state law conferring a right to resist an unlawful arrest:
In Texas, the use of force to resist an arrest is justified: (1) if, before the actor offers any resistance, the peace officer uses or attempts to use greater force than necessary to make the arrest or search; and (2) when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to protect himself against the peace officer’s use or attempted use of greater force than necessary. Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 9.31.
What you’re about to see here is outrageous body cam footage that has never before been seen by anyone, other than law enforcement. It shows what happened to my clients, Jason Tartt, the property owner and landlord, as well as Donnie and Ventriss Hairston, his innocent and mistreated tenants, on August 7, 2020, when they were subjected to civil rights violations by two deputies with the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office, Dalton Martin and Jordan Horn.
Today we filed a federal civil rights lawsuit, which is posted below. But you can watch the footage for yourself. Before the body cams were turned on, what you need to know is that there was a complaint received that an abandoned church, in an overgrown parcel of land not owned by any of these individuals, apparently had four marijuana plants growing there, among the thick brush. Crime of the century, right? The perpetrators must be one of the elderly African American residents nearby, of course. Instead of treating them as human beings, let’s accuse them first thing, then mistreat, harass, and retaliate against, them if they dare to get uppity, or not know their place.
Donnie and Ventriss Hairston were sitting on the front porch of their rural home, when two deputies approached and began to harass and intimidate them. Their landlord, who lives next door, joined them shortly afterwards and began to ask questions. When they asserted their opinions and rights, retaliation ensued. The landlord, Jason Tartt, was seized and arrested. The Hairstons were shoved into their home against their will. This is never before seen footage, outside of law enforcement of course. Take a look and form your own opinion about what happened.
