By CAROLYN THOMPSON
Associated Press Writer
BUFFALO, N.Y.- A veteran Customs and Border Protection officer charged with beating a Chinese tourist said Friday he acted “by the book” during a struggle in which the woman was pepper-sprayed, thrown against a wall and her head forced into the pavement.
Officer Robert Rhodes spoke briefly before the start of his trial in U.S. District Court, where he is accused of using excessive force against the visitor he had mistaken for a drug suspect.
“When I stopped her, she fought. I followed CBP procedure by the book,” Rhodes said as he arrived at the courthouse.
The 17-year border inspector is charged with depriving Zhao Yan of the constitutional protection against unreasonable force by a law enforcement officer. He could face 10 years in prison if convicted.
Zhao, 38, who owns a furniture company in Tianjin, is suing the U.S. government for $10 million over the July 2004 incident that drew intense interest in China after pictures of Zhao, in a wheelchair with scrapes on her forehead and two black eyes, were widely published. The official Xinhua News Agency reported China’s foreign minister demanded to then-Secretary of State Colin Powell that border officials be punished.
Rhodes’ attorney, Steven Cohen, has accused the U.S. government of bowing to pressure from the Chinese and claims Rhodes was singled out because he is gay. Powell and former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge are on the defense’s list of potential witnesses.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Martin Littlefield has denied that either political pressure or Rhodes’ homosexuality played a role in the indictment.
During his opening statement Friday, Littlefield told jurors that within seconds of running up to Zhao, Rhodes emptied a can of pepper spray in her face and threw her against a wall, causing her to fall to her knees, her hands clamped to her burning eyes.
When other officers couldn’t pry Zhao’s hand from her face to handcuff her, Rhodes kneed her three times in the head, grabbed her hair and pounded her head into the cement, Littlefield said.
Cohen painted a different picture, saying Zhao _ who Rhodes believed had been traveling with a man who had just been caught with marijuana _ had clawed and kicked at Rhodes, leaving scratches and bruises.
“Terrorists come in all sizes, shapes and colors,” Cohen said. He said Rhodes used only the force necessary to keep the woman under control and from reaching for a weapon.
“Officer Rhodes did exactly what he was trained to do and exactly what we want him to do,” he said.
Zhao is expected to testify through an interpreter during the trial, which will likely take more than two weeks.