According to the initial police report, deputies claimed Seals was being combative and would not comply. While Seals admitted to using profanity, the video shows he was not at all combative.
According to the police report, one of the deputies deployed his stun gun, but it didn't connect. It goes on to say that Seals is still combative so the deputy writes he reached for his stun gun and it connected. However, this was simply not true.
This attack happened on Aug. 30, 2015, and Seals has yet to receive a single penny for his more than $20,000 in medical expenses.
Video shows Seals enter a secure area in the Richmond County Jail in Augusta and while there is no audio, we can clearly see that there is no physical struggle.
"I screamed and everything was over with," Seals told WSB-TV.
In the video, Seals is complying with the deputies' orders to get up against the wall. He has his hands behind his back and his face to the wall when two deputies sadistically deploy their tasers.
"I watched him come through the door and he said, 'pop his a**.' As soon as he said that, dude shot me in my back," Seals said.
After he was hit, Seals' body locked up and he fell to the floor, smashing down on his head. He was knocked out.
For more than 90 seconds, deputies simply look down at him as if they thought he was faking. Then, one of them finally checks his pulse.
Deputy Donnie Crawford wrote in the police report that Seals was being physically combative and they had no other choice but to deploy their tasers. However, as the video shows, this was a lie.
"None of those facts applied. He was in the surrender position," said DeKalb County-based attorney Anita Lamar. "I'd rather go by the video rather than what they say is on the video."
Lamar and Craig Jones filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Richmond County, Deputy Donnie Crawford and Deputy Christopher Alexis over the incident, according to WSB-TV.
While the Sheriff's Office said they can't comment, they did say that Deputy Crawford was fired. However, no action was taken against Christopher Alexis.
"You don't shoot a dart and then run electricity through the dart unless they are violently resisting you," Seals said.
"They are refusing to pay the bills, so now not only does he have injuries to deal with but has bills to pay," Lamar said.
What the video below shows is the power of police lies. Had this surveillance footage been kept from the public, no one would have believed that
Seals did not deserve to be tasered. Next time someone says "do what the police tell you, and you will not be hurt," show them this video.
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