by Joshua Freed, The Associated Press
Minneapolis (AP) -- A federal investigation has cleared two police officers accused of putting a toilet plunger in a drug suspect’s rectum, Police Chief William McManus said Friday.
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division found no evidence of “prosecutable violation” federal criminal civil rights laws, McManus said at a news conference where he stood side-by-side with one of the officers, Jeff Jindra.
Jindra said a cavity search had been done during the Oct. 13 police raid on a Minneapolis home. But he said the raid included “no struggle whatsoever. It was a run-of-the-mill crackhouse raid.”
Jindra, speaking for the first time since the allegations surfaced, said it was a relief to be cleared after eight months with the allegation hanging over his head.
“You want to scream and yell from the rooftops about your innocence, but you just can’t,” he said.
Stephen Porter, 25, had alleged that Jindra assaulted him with a toilet plunger handle after a drug raid. It’s not clear what role officer Todd Babekuhl, who drove Porter to the jail after the raid, played in the alleged assault. Both officers had denied the assault allegations.
The FBI investigated the allegations then forwarded what they found to federal prosecutors. FBI spokesman Paul McCabe declined to provide details on what the FBI found.
“The FBI utilized a significant amount of resources to conduct this investigation,” he said. “The investigation was thorough and complete, with no stone left unturned. And the FBI concurs with the Department of Justice decision” not to prosecute, he said.
Porter attorney Albert Goins said he hadn’t seen the FBI report that led to the Justice Department’s decision. But he said the officers might have committed a civil rights violation even if their conduct wasn’t criminal.
Police officials wouldn’t say whether Porter faces criminal charges for claiming he was assaulted. “I would like to see some kind of consequences from this allegation,” Jindra said.
Porter is currently serving a prison sentence of nearly four years for drug possession in a case unrelated to the October raid.
Police officials said Bakebuhl would have appeared at the news conference if he wasn’t fishing in Canada.
“Obviously it’s a relief to the officers,” said Jim Michels, who represented Babekuhl. “I guess I’d like somebody to explain to me why it took ... almost eight months to do.”
Representatives of the city’s black community said the same thing.
Bill English, co-chairman of the Coalition of Black Churches African American Leadership Summit said he supports the outcome of the investigation -- but added that it took too long.
“We never stood behind Stephen Porter, we stood behind getting due process” for his allegation, English said.