A Black inmate at a Georgia prison accused a corrections officer of choking him with a leg brace and making a racist comment as three other officers looked on, according to a lawsuit.
Tremar Harris filed a federal civil lawsuit Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia against three corrections officers with the Appling County Sheriff’s Office.
The lawsuit says the officers “had a duty to intervene” and stop the Jan. 29, 2022, attack, but instead they stood by and watched as former corrections officer William Rentz “pulled the chain against the plaintiff’s throat and strangled him for about 20 minutes.” four seconds.
Rentz, who is not listed as a defendant in the lawsuit but was listed in an earlier lawsuit by Harris, was subsequently arrested and charged with aggravated assault, battery and violation of oath of office. The more recent lawsuit states he was fired by the sheriff’s office.
The Appling County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Harris was a pretrial detainee at the Appling County Jail and was being held in solitary confinement, according to the complaint. While in jail, Harris was placed in a restraint chair and put into a padded cell.
According to the lawsuit, Harris was able to free his right arm from the restraint of the chair, and the three defendants entered the cell to place him in handcuffs.
“Next, while standing above and behind the plaintiff, who was restrained in the restraint chair, Officer Rentz used the chain from an unused leg brace and placed it over the plaintiff’s throat,” the complaint states.
As Rentz strangled Harris, the officer said, “He was going to put you (plaintiff) back in the cotton field with the other boys, inferring that plaintiff was a slave,” the lawsuit said. Rentz is white.
A photo included in the lawsuit shows the officer appearing to strangle Harris with the leg brace as the three defendants look on.
The lawsuit says Harris posed no threat and feared he would die during the alleged attack.
“Plaintiff was in a state of fear and extreme anxiety at the time after Officer Rentz grabbed the chain from the leg brace and strangled him,” it reads.
The three officers could not be reached at the telephone numbers listed for them. It is not clear whether they have hired lawyers.
In January, Harris filed a separate federal civil lawsuit against Rentz. The former officer said Harris was placed in solitary confinement because he was behaving erratically, according to court documents. Rentz said in the documents that he believes his actions “were appropriate and necessary.”
An attorney for Rentz said he had no comment outside of the lawsuit.
Harris is seeking damages against Rentz and the three officers. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
