The Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office announced on Sept. 5 that it won’t pursue criminal charges against a Baltimore police detective who pressed his gun against the temple of a Black man who was lying on the sidewalk and held down by other officers during an arrest in May.
Defense attorneys for Jaemun Joyner, the 24-year-old man arrested on May 23, have accused police of using excessive force on Joyner and for stopping him without probable cause. Charges against Joyner were dropped, but the police officer’s conduct is reportedly still under investigation by the police department.
A video of the incident on May 23, captured by a body-worn police camera and first aired by WBAL-TV News in July, showed a group of five police officers arriving at the scene in front of a corner bodega in East Baltimore as Detective Connor Johnson tried to restrain Joyner and place him in custody.
