Charges were filed Monday against five Connecticut police officers involved in an incident that left a Black man severely crippled. Randy Cox was being driven to a New Haven police station on Sunday, June 19, for processing on a firearms allegation. When the driver allegedly braked hard at an intersection to prevent a collision, Cox was thrown headfirst into a metal partition in the back of the police van.
Despite his repeated pleas for aid following the damage caused by the driver’s reaction and the police van’s absence of seat belts, Cox was cruelly ignored. Sgt. Betsy Segui, one of the five cops indicted, allegedly insulted Cox inside the detention center and accused him of being inebriated and exaggerating his injuries. All of the police involved have been placed on administrative leave since last summer after being charged with second-degree reckless endangerment and cruelty, both crimes. Officers allegedly took Cox from the van by his feet and placed him in a holding cell before transferring him to a hospital. Cox had a shattered neck and was paralyzed, it was subsequently determined.
“If we say we respect life and respect Randy Cox’s life experiences and people like Randy Cox, similarly situated, then we have to show that by action, not just by rhetoric,” Crump stated to the Associated Press. “Not just say we care about Black lives, but we have an actual duty in New Haven and throughout America to show that we believe Black lives matter.”
Cox’s attorneys filed a $100 million lawsuit against the city of New Haven in September. Civil rights advocates such as the NAACP and civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who had previously spoken out against the occurrence, were outraged by the case. – Steve Sijenyi
