Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Joins Lawsuit on Behalf of Black Man in Violent Attack by White West Va. Officers

Two white police officers pulled a Black West Virginian man from his home and beat him for half a minute causing serious and permanent injuries in the early morning of New Year's Day 2019, according to a lawsuit the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law joined last Friday. In joining the case, the national Lawyers' Committee and Umina Legal filed an amended complaint that describes the issues of race present in the case.

Defendants include the officers at the scene of the attack, Zachary Fecsko and Aaron Dalton, and their supervisor, the former chief of police, Richard Panico. Both officers Fecsko and Dalton have a history of violence on the job.

The plaintiff, Mr. Andre Howton, a 55-year old Black man, was assaulted after law enforcement removed a woman, who was white, from Mr. Howton's home. After they removed the woman, Fecscko, a white man in his twenties, inexplicably yanked Mr. Howton from his doorway, telling him "get your ass out here, boy!" With Officer Dalton shouting encouragement, Officer Fecsko then proceeded to pummel Mr. Howton, while Howton lay pinned on the sidewalk, steps from his front door.

"The utter disregard for the constitutional rights of Mr. Howton, who requested assistance from these officers, is outrageous," said Tianna Mays, senior counsel in the Criminal Justice Project, at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. "The officers have a history of violence and should be ashamed to call themselves public servants. The failure to terminate them is only eclipsed by the failure to hold the system accountable at large."

The use of the word "boy" has a history of being used to refer to Black men in a demeaning and insulting manner. Courts have previously found that the use of the word "boy" - as used by Officer Fecscko - can have serious racial implications, similar to the n-word, and may be evidence of racial hostility. "We must recognize the connection of this case to the work of Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday the nation celebrated on Monday. Doctor King shed light on the use of the word 'boy' as a tool of oppression," said Arthur Ago, director of the Criminal Justice Project at the Lawyers' Committee.

"The type of behavior of the officers here - calling an older Black man "boy," pulling him from his home, and then beating him mercilessly - is part of a pattern of unchecked violence against Black communities, motivated by a sense of superiority and a lack of accountability," said Arusha Gordon, associate director of the James Byrd Jr. Center to Stop Hate, a project of the Lawyers' Committee. "From the murder of George Floyd, to the beating of Mr. Howton, this racist violence needs to stop. We are proud to join this lawsuit and look forward to fighting hand in hand with the firm of Umina Legal to ensure justice for Mr. Howton."

Attorneys Beth Lebow and Ryan Umina of Umina Legal stated: "We are extremely pleased that the Lawyers' Committee is joining us in the fight for justice on Mr. Howton's behalf. This case represents some of the most flagrant constitutional and civil rights violations that the State of West Virginia has ever seen, and the Defendants, in this case, must be held accountable. Bad actors, such as these defendants, only make the jobs of the many hard-working, good men and women in law enforcement more difficult. For the safety of our citizens and our communities, we must now do our part to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again."

The Westover Police Department continues to allow both officers involved in the incident to remain employed, despite the lawsuit being filed earlier this year and the officers' previous history of violence.

Read the amended complaint here