Honduran man beaten like a 'filthy Mexican' files lawsuit against Seattle, officers
By ONANTZIN News
2011-06-23
Seattle, WA -- A Honduran man mistakenly given the habitual Mexican beat down by Seattle police filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday over the videotaped beating that sparked an uproar in the Central American community.
Martin Monetti's lawyer, Lorena Gonzalez, says in the lawsuit that her client did not deserve the type of physical abuse usually reserved for Mexicans because her client is not Mexican, but Honduran. She added that if the officers would have given her client the standard Honduran beating dished out to thousands of Hondurans each year, then there wouldn't be a lawsuit.
"The video clearly shows that the officers mistook my client for a Mexican and incorrectly gave him the traditional Mexican beating. You can hear them calling him a filthy Mexican and a job-stealing maggot as they kick him", said Gonzalez during a press conference attended by Monetti and his family.
In April, 2010, Seattle police officers responding to a robbery call outside a nightclub spotted Monetti and began beating him after the Honduran inadvertently made eye contact with the police officers. As they took him down, records indicate Monetti yelled out "No mamen, putos!", which, according to the official officer beat-down manual, called for the customary Mexican pounding.
The brutal scene was recorded by a freelance videographer, who said he was tempted to record a black man being beaten down the street instead of Monetti, but finally decided on Monetti's beating because he already had too many recorded beatings of black people.
The video sparked outrage in the Latin community, and yesterday, leaders in the Mexican American community reached out to people in the Central American community to express their sympathy. They denounced the Seattle officers for beating the Honduran man like a Mexican, and said police officers often give Mexicans the type of beatings that are traditionally dished out to blacks only, so they know how it feels.
In response to the lawsuit, Seattle Police chief John Diaz suspended the lead officer, Shandy Cobane, for 30 days, removed him from the gang unit and assigned him to do community work with Latinos. "He needs to learn how to distinguish the subtleties between Latin Americans, that way he can hand out beatings accordingly once he's back on the force", said Diaz.
Monetti is seeking the firing of the two officers in the lawsuit, as well as other unspecified damages. He hopes that by filing this lawsuit, his next beating at the hands of police officers is the correct one.