US justice has handed down the first sentences against white police officers who, in 2017, beat a black protester without knowing that he was in fact a colleague working undercover. A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced Randy Hays, 34, to more than four years in prison, who had pleaded guilty to
"unreasonable use of force,"
according to court documents. On Thursday, his ex-girlfriend Bailey Colletta, who had tried to cover him up, received a three-year suspended sentence for false testimony, according to reporters from the local daily
Saint Louis Dispatch
.
In June, another agent, Dustin Boone, was convicted of the violence by a jury.
His sentence will be pronounced on September 15, four years to the day after the event at the origin of this emblematic case of police abuse in the United States.
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On September 15, 2017, the city of Saint-Louis, Missouri (center), was set ablaze after the acquittal of a white police officer who had killed a black man in a 2011 chase. The city then deployed anti-riot units to restore calm. Charged with arresting the disturbing elements, several agents had according to the indictment expressed their
"contempt for the demonstrators"
and their
"excitement at the idea of using force against them"
.
"It will be fun to type on these heads of knot when the sun will have fallen and we will no longer be able to recognize us"
, had declared Dustin Boone in an exchange transcribed in this legal document.
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So on September 17, they attacked a black colleague in civilian clothes, Luther Hall, who was responsible for collecting intelligence in the processions.
Believing he was a protester, they
"threw him to the ground and badly beat him, while he was cooperating and posed no physical threat
,
"
according to the indictment.
His white teammate, also in civilian clothes, had however escaped their blows.
After discovering his identity, they produced false testimony in an attempt to justify their behavior.
They had also contacted their victim, an agent with 22 years of experience, to dissuade him from filing a complaint, without success.
In February, the city of St. Louis agreed to pay Luther Hall $ 5 million to end a civil lawsuit.