A violent arrest of 23-year-old schoolteacher and transgender man Emmet Brock by a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy has been captured on surveillance footage from a 7-Eleven store in Whittier.
The incident, which occurred in the parking lot of the convenience store on Mills Avenue around 12:30 p.m. on February 10, shows Deputy Joseph Benza forcibly arresting Brock. The footage reveals Benza blocking Brock’s black Honda Civic with his cruiser before approaching Brock and taking him to the ground.
During the three-minute altercation, Brock is seen struggling and screaming for help as the deputy held him down and punched him in the head. Brock was then handcuffed and put into the deputy’s cruiser.
Brock’s attorney, Thomas Beck, stated that the official reason for the stop was an air freshener hanging from the vehicle’s rear-view mirror. However, the situation escalated after Brock allegedly gestured rudely at Benza, who then followed Brock to the 7-Eleven parking lot.
Beck also claimed that the sheriff’s department is not investigating the incident and has not reached out to either him or Brock. The attorney alleges that Brock suffered a concussion and lost his teaching job due to the charges filed against him.
Following his arrest, Brock was reportedly humiliated at the Norwalk Sheriff’s Station when he was asked to show his genitals to determine which holding cell he should be placed in.
Brock is now facing two misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and battery on an officer. However, he and his lawyer maintain that it was Deputy Benza who used excessive force. They have released the surveillance footage to support their claims. The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department has not yet commented on the incident.