This man just slapped me for nothing, bro. I don't appreciate that. >> It's called resisting. I ain't tell you you can't get mad at me cuz you ain't you ain't going to get up. Stop pushing against it. I'M NOT DOING YOU, MAN. A Jacksonville man has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against multiple Jacksonville Sheriff's Deputies alleging excessive force during a traffic stop. According to the lawsuit, the encounter escalated after the man questioned the stop. He alleges officers used force that was unnecessary, punitive, and retaliatory. The incident was captured on body-worn camera, and the lawsuit claims the video shows an officer slapping the man followed by additional force during the arrest. The man was charged at the time, but those charges were later dismissed. Now, he is suing the officers and the city under federal civil rights law claiming violations of the Fourth Amendment including excessive force and failure to intervene. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has not admitted wrongdoing and says the matter is under review. Thin blue lies, baby. The lawsuit alleges that at least one officer had a history of disciplinary issues and that other officers failed to intervene during the encounter. Civil rights lawsuits like this are often brought under 42 USC Section 1983, a federal statute allowing citizens to sue government officials for constitutional violations. If successful, damages would be paid not by the individual officers, but typically by taxpayers. Cases like this often hinge on body cam footage, officer reports, and whether the force used was objectively reasonable under the circumstances. >> This is De'Quan Ellis under arrest with JSO. Ellis was pulled over for running two stop signs. According to the arrest report, while the officer was searching Mr. Ellis's vehicle, Ellis began to actively physically resist by turning his body. Officer Hendrix and Officer Murphy put Ellis in handcuffs and said he continued to resist. Onlookers were recording the incident including when Ellis was slapped by Murphy, but the slaps are not listed in the police report. >> Before we hear the audio and see the video, let's talk about the part everyone noticed, the slap. Because nothing says professional law enforcement quite like open-handing a citizen on camera like you're auditioning for America's got talented egos. Apparently, in Jacksonville, asking questions during a traffic stop is now considered a hands-on learning experience. You don't get answers, you get corrected with a palm. And thank goodness for body cameras because without video, we'd be told this was a routine stop, that the citizen was aggressive, and that the officer feared for his safety. But now we're left asking, if this is what officers are willing to do on camera, what happens when the camera isn't rolling? And here's where it gets truly impressive. According to the officer's official police report, Ellis was resisting arrest. How? By turning his body. That's it. No punches, no running, no reaching for a weapon. He rotated. Apparently, in Jacksonville, human anatomy itself is now non-compliance. Your spine? Suspicious. Your shoulders? Escalatory. Your ability to move in three dimensions? Active resistance. This is what we call report gymnastics because once force is used, the paperwork has to catch up. So suddenly, words become threats, questions become defiance, and turning your body becomes grounds for physical punishment. It's not about what actually happened, it's about writing something, anything, that makes the force look justified after the fact. If turning your body is resisting arrest, then every human being with joints is a threat, which explains a lot. This is body cam video of one of the slaps. This man just slapped at me for nothing, bro. I don't appreciate that. It's called resisting. I ain't tell you you can't get mad at me cuz you ain't you ain't going to get up. Stop pushing against IT. I'M NOT DOING YOU, MAN. The only issue isn't the slap. It's that it happened in front of witnesses wearing the same uniform. They watched. They heard. They did nothing. Which brings us to the unofficial law enforcement motto, "If I didn't throw the punch, I didn't see it." Failure to intervene isn't accidental, it's structural because stepping in has consequences. Silence has rewards. >> JSO confirmed Officer Murphy was suspended for eight days after an in-house complaint was investigated. Today, Steven Kelly, De'Quan Ellis's attorney, filed a lawsuit in federal court in the Middle District for civil rights violations that Ellis experienced at the hands of Officer Murphy. >> I ain't understand it, you know? I ain't I just felt bad like I ain't know how to feel at the time. I was angry. I was hurt. >> One word that I think of when I see that video is humiliation. Um there's there's there's there's no way around it. There's no tactical um means of slapping someone who complied with all of your requests. He was handcuffed. He wasn't slapped once. He wasn't slapped twice. He was slapped three times while handcuffed. And that's not a a police tactic, that's humiliation and that's assault and battery. Now, don't worry, accountability is coming. We're told there's an investigation, possibly a review, maybe even a policy reminder email. Worst case scenario, paid leave. Best case scenario, a settlement quietly approved during a city council meeting no one watches. And the taxpayers? They get the bill. The lawsuit claims excessive force, failure to intervene, violating the Fourth and 14th Amendment rights, fabrication of evidence, false reporting, municipal liability under Monell with damages of emotional distress, financial loss, among other losses. They're requesting a jury trial. Slapping someone who you know is unarmed, being compliant, right, and handcuffed, whether you have a badge or a gun or not, is wrong. Kelly said the federal lawsuit is just the beginning. Ellis filed a complaint with JSO, but said he was never told about the 8-day suspension until our interview. Ellis did take a plea for resisting without violence. The two stop sign violations he was originally pulled over for, those were dropped. Kelly wants to know if the officer was also retrained, and Ellis believes the officer that slapped him should be fired. This lawsuit isn't shocking. What would be shocking is if it were rare, but it's not. It's another entry in a long list of cases where force is used first, justifications come later, and accountability never quite arrives. Not immediately. Not publicly. Sometimes, not at all. This isn't anti-police. It's anti-impunity. Because authority without accountability isn't public safety. It's just power protected by uniforms, lawyers, and your tax dollars. Ellis's attorney made it clear. This wasn't tactical, it wasn't necessary, and it wasn't about control. Ellis was already handcuffed when he was slapped three times. According to the attorney, this wasn't law enforcement, it was humiliation. And humiliation is not a policing tool. Thin blue lies, baby.