Wave Staff Report
SOUTH LOS ANGELES — Local activists were joined by former NBA player Craig Hodges June 23 calling for California Attorney General Rob Bonta to launch a criminal investigation into whether the Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies violated the civil rights of a man during a traffic stop in May 2020.
Christopher Bailey, 37, says he was viciously beaten by six deputies on May 20, 2020 after an alleged traffic violation. Bailey was beaten so severely he lost vision in one eye and had several teeth knocked out.
Hodges, who was a teammate of Michael Jordan on the Chicago Bulls for three NBA championships in the 1990s, is Bailey’s uncle.
He joined Najee Ali and Rev. Nathaniel Martin of the National Action Network, calling for an investigation into the beating of Bailey, who still faces several surgeries to recover from his injuries.
“Our coalition believes that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has a history of being
involved in unconstitutional policing,” Ali said. “Under Sheriff [Alex] Villanueva’s leadership, his department has faced several allegations of excessive force, retaliation and other misconduct, as well as a number of recent reported incidents involving management and personnel.”
“The National Action Network and every major civil rights organization in our community stands in solidarity in demanding justice for Christopher Bailey,” Martin said.
The group said the county and the six sheriff’s deputies are named in a federal lawsuit filed by Bailey’s attorney, Toni Jaramilla.
