The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has completed a
probe into the beating of a jailed detainee by sheriff’s deputies in
the booking area of the downtown Multnomah County Detention Center and
has forwarded its findings to the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in
Washington, DC.
The attorney general’s office is now likely to take 60-90 days to
decide whether to take any action against the sheriff’s deputies
involved in the beating of Michael Evans. At this stage, the FBI says
it cannot discuss its findings and that the decision to proceed is now
out of its hands—although the DOJ may request additional
investigation by the local FBI office before reaching a decision.
Evans was shown on closed-circuit video being beaten, apparently
without provocation, by six sheriff’s deputies and Portland Police
Bureau officers. He complained to the FBI in July, and was interviewed
in jail by the Feds early in September.
Despite losing consciousness during the beating, Evans was initially
denied medical attention and had to reset his own broken nose. He also
had to stop his facial bleeding with a T-shirt and was thereafter
placed in solitary confinement for his first 60 days in jail.
Evans launched a $60,000 lawsuit on September 12—the same day
two more victims of alleged jail beatings, Frank Coleman and Mitchell
Elliott, filed tort claims against the county.
Asked whether the FBI is investigating a systemic problem with
prisoner abuse at the jail, FBI spokesman Mike Sweeney says: “We are
always interested in any specific, credible, articulable allegations,
and take those seriously. We count on the county’s continued
cooperation and support.”