Congresswoman Janice Hahn, D-San Pedro, is calling for a Justice Department investigation into a deputy U.S. Marshal’s destruction of a cell phone that a woman was using to film a law enforcement operation targeting a motorcycle gang in South Gate.
The deputy marshal was part of a task force also including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. A neighbor filmed his attack on the offending cell phone, which he angrily threw to the ground. That YouTube video is reported to have been viewed more than 760,000 times since Sunday, when the incident occurred.
“I was alarmed and upset by the actions of the law enforcement officer captured on the video,” Hahn said in a statement quoted by the Los Angeles Times.
Hahn, whose district includes South Gate, called for an investigation by the Justice Department.
“We must hold all who are sworn to protect and serve accountable and send a clear message that they are not beyond the law,” she said.
Beatriz Paez, whose phone was seized, plans to file a lawsuit against the agent who grabbed her phone, the two who stood by and watched, and potentially the agencies involved in the operation, her attorney, Colleen Flynn, told The Times.
