Lawyer Calls For Probe In Nassau Co. Arrest, Alleged Beating Of Salvadoran National; Alleges Racial Targeting
MINEOLA, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - There's a call for the Justice Department to investigate the actions of Nassau County police in the recent arrest and beating of a Salvadoran national.
Attorney Karen Bobley says her client, Willian Giullen, was not dealing drugs-- as Nassau police allege-- when he was chased, beaten and arrested. Bobley contends he was targeted, along with other Hispanics, because of his ethnicity.
"Approached him because there was an assumption that if a Latino is in a Latino bar, then apparently has some sort of reputation for drugs, that he must have had drugs on him," told WCBS 880's Long Island Bureau Chief Mike Xirinachs.
Bobley says Giullen only ran because he thought the police officers were robbers.
"They were in plain clothes, they didn't identify themselves, they came out of a dark street, a suburban street that has no traffic on it, and yelling and my client just thought he was being robbed," Bobley said.
Drugs were not recovered during the arrest, and Bobley believes Giullen's civil rights were violated.
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