Judge blames police for provoking fight

San Diego police officers involved in the beating and arrest of a homeless black veteran were told by a judge that they unnecessarily escalated a jaywalking infraction into a violent confrontation.

Superior Court Judge Sharon Majors-Lewis rejected an assertion by San Diego Police Officer Justin Tennebaum that Frederick Jefferson, 39, was signaling “aggressive intent” by pulling up his shorts prior to a fight that injured Jefferson and Officer Matthew Ruggiero. She ordered San Diego County Sherriff’s personnel at the George F. Bailey Detention Facility to provide medical treatment to Jefferson for the injuries he incurred in the Feb. 3 incident on Logan Avenue. Jefferson had been denied medical attention for a month.

Majors-Lewis said Jefferson has a case for self-defense though he punched Ruggiero in the face. She said she would have dismissed the case outright had the officer not been “badly injured.” SDPD officials said Ruggiero suffered a broken nose and jaw.

“The Court cannot believe that this escalated to this level,” she said.

SDPD body camera footage and cell phone video shot by passersby show that Ruggiero and Tennebaum initiated the incident that led to them clubbing Jefferson with metal batons, Jefferson hitting Ruggiero with a counter punch, and six to 10 officers beating, tasering and pepper spraying Jefferson after he was already on the ground.

San Diego District Attorney Michael Reilly refused comment when asked by The Sun about Ruggiero’s history of anti-African American comments on social media, including a 2016 Facebook post where he called Black Lives Matter activists “black slime.” Ruggiero is white, Jefferson is black.

Police Claim Officer ‘Sucker Punched’

SDPD spokesperson Lt. Scott Wahl told news media that day that Jefferson had “sucker punched” Ruggiero, but civilian video of the confrontation show that Ruggiero struck first. Wahl said police body camera video would show that Jefferson provoked the clubbing and that “a different story will come out in court.” In February Wahl refused to allow journalists to see the police video.

SDPD body camera footage shown in court March 9, however, supported the testimony of witnesses who insisted that Ruggiero and Tennebaum initiated the conflict. The officers threatened Jefferson with arrest, grabbed at him repeatedly and tore his shirt as he attempted to cross Logan Avenue in the middle of the block while it was closed to motor vehicles due to a rally in nearby Chicano Park. Witnesses said Jefferson ignored the officers’ commands to get out on the street and was argumentative when he was grabbed, but did not strike Ruggiero first as Wahl claimed.

Witnesses Say Police Started the Brawl

Police body camera video verified the testimony of witness Octavio Hernandez, who was walking on the sidewalk on the west side of Logan Avenue north of the barricaded intersection of Cesar E. Chavez Parkway with children prior to the confrontation. He said Ruggerio and Tennebaum drove past Jefferson in their police cruiser and yelled at him to get out of the road. When Jefferson kept walking, the police cruiser backed up to Jefferson and the officers threatened to arrest him if he did not leave the street. Police had closed the street to escort a group of white supremacists away from nearby Chicano Park following a protest.

Hernandez said the officers then exited their car and approached Jefferson, who was walking away from them. Approaching Jefferson from behind, they each grabbed one of his arms, Hernandez said, but Jefferson shook free. Jefferson was walking backward away from the officers when Ruggiero clubbed him in the thigh with a metal baton. Jefferson swung at Ruggiero and missed. Ruggiero then struck Jefferson in the ribs, Hernandez said, and Jefferson countered with a punch to Ruggiero’s jaw. Ruggiero then attempted to strike Jefferson in the head with a club as Jefferson continued to back away.

Jefferson raised his left arm to block the club, which appeared in a video to strike him in the ribs. Jefferson countered with a solid right-hand punch to Ruggiero’s face. Witness Alexis Del Castillo, interviewed separately, described the chain of events the same way.

Jefferson Claims Self-Defense

Jefferson sat for two 30-minute interviews with The Sun at the Bailey Detention Facility in Otay Mesa. He said the officers initiated the confrontation and he was trying to back away when he was attacked by Ruggiero.

“I wanted to put distance in there because I was afraid they were going to Rodney King my ass,” Jefferson said.

King was an African-American taxi driver severely beaten by Los Angeles Police Department officers during a traffic stop that was captured on video March 3, 1991. It was the first known case of a civilian capturing police brutality and tape and sharing it with the news media. After four officers on trial for the beating were acquitted in 1992, rioting broke out in Los Angeles that lasted six days and led to 53 deaths. Almost 2,400 were injured before the California National Guard and U.S. military personnel re-established control. King sued the city of Los Angeles and was awarded $3.8 million in damages.

Jefferson said he panicked and tried to defend himself when Ruggiero raised the baton to hit him. He was charged with four felonies, including assault with a deadly weapon and assault on a police officer. He is facing nine years in prison if convicted on all counts. To date, Ruggiero has not been charged with any crimes or misconduct in the case.

Jefferson said the charges are unfair and that he was acting in self-defense.

“They’re saying the deadly weapon was my forearm,” he said. “I never used it as a weapon. I used it to block. He had that metal ass billy club. If that’s not assault with a deadly weapon, I don’t know what is.”

Police Claim Jefferson ‘Not Injured’

Jefferson was injured during the street fight and his arrest on the sidewalk. He showed a reporter severe bruising to his upper rib area and said he had been denied medical care at the prison for more than a month despite submitting at least five formal written medical requests. He also has wounds to his neck, shoulders and arm consistent with deep gouges and scratches.

Wahl and then-San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman said during television news interviews that Jefferson was not hurt by police. Judge Majors-Lewis disagreed. She ordered San Diego Sheriff’s personnel at the Bailey Detention Center to provide immediate medical care for Jefferson.

Zimmerman did not returned several phone calls and tweets seeking comment on the case over a period of nearly a month before she retired on March 1.

Anti-African American Facebook Posts

Ruggiero has been outspoken on social media about his dislike of civilians who video police confrontations.

“Law enforcement has spent the last twenty-five-plus years being unfairly criticized because of the growing proliferation of out-of-context videos taken by the public,” he wrote. “Those videos viewed out of context have led to a false belief that police use-of-force policies are broken, calling for mandatory body cameras to keep us in line; but when body camera footage shows that it’s the citizen acting like a child/animal/jerk instead of the cop, we shouldn’t release the video?”

Ruggiero also made numerous posts critical of the Black Lives Matter movement.

“I’m tired of hearing people call these black activists,” he wrote on Facebook. “They’re not black activists, this is black slime and it needs to be eradicated from the American society and culture.”

On a later Facebook post he called Black Lives Matter activists “idiots.”

“Choose your battles BLM,” he wrote, “because the rest of us are losing patience with you.”

Ruggiero also posted messages critical of prominent African-Americans like Beyoncé Knowles and Michelle Obama. Outside of the courtroom District Attorney Michael Reilly said he had no comment about the posts. Soon after the court hearing, Ruggiero deleted the posts and changed his handle from “Matthew Ruggiero” to “Tango N’ Cash.” Ruggiero did not attend the hearing.

Scuffle on the Sidewalk

Cellular phone video shot by two civilians from two different angles show that Jefferson was injured during his scuffle with police. Video shared with The Southwestern College Sun by human rights organization IRATE Productions shows police using batons to hit Jefferson’s legs and knock him to the sidewalk. Del Castillo began recording the incident on his phone after Jefferson was on the ground. He said officers shocked Jefferson with a Taser and pepper sprayed him as six officers had him pinned to the ground.

Del Castillo can be heard in the video telling the officers to not block the camera’s view of Jefferson.
“The cops were trying to hide it,” Del Castillo said. “They kept standing in front of the camera as I tried to film.”

The IRATE Productions video was shot facing south. It shows a scrum of officers on a supine Jefferson. One officer grabbed Jefferson’s head and turned his face toward another officer, who hit Jefferson point blank with a full dose of pepper spray. Del Castillo’s video, shot facing north, shows a female officer charging a Taser gun, then discharging it directly into Jefferson’s back.
Zimmerman appeared on local television newscasts that afternoon and said Ruggiero was recovering from his injuries and condemned Jefferson for punching him. Zimmerman, however, did not mention that the officer attacked Jefferson first. Video shown on local newscasts that evening showed the tussle on the ground, but not the clubbing or punches that occurred seconds earlier. It is unclear whether Zimmerman had seen the clubbing video or was aware that the officer had struck Jefferson prior to being punched.

Police Confusion
Zimmerman also indicated that she thought Jefferson was part of the white supremacist gathering or peace rally at nearby Chicano Park earlier that morning. She also mistakenly claimed that the confrontation happened in Chicano Park. She said on Feb. 3 television interviews that she did not know “which side” Jefferson was on.

Jefferson said he did not attend the protest and was not even aware it had happened. Leaders of the Patriot Picnic and Chicano Park rally organizers all said Jefferson was not part of their groups. Witnesses said Jefferson was not involved with the Chicano Park protest or rally and never entered the park. He was more than 200 years away in a small commercial center on the other side of the police barricades, coincidentally transiting the area as the white supremacists were leaving their protest. There were two impenetrable police barricades between the protest site and the spot on Logan Avenue where Ruggiero and Jefferson hit each other. Jefferson was about 50 yards north of a barrier that closed Cesar Chavez Parkway, 120 yards north of a barrier on the edge of Chicano Park, and 210 yards from the Chicano Park rally in the heart of the park.

Jefferson said later he was trying to cross the street on his way “to eat pancakes” with a friend at a nearby restaurant.

Officers involved in the beating and arrest of Jefferson were working the “Patriot Picnic” staged by white supremacists on the portion of Chicano Park east of Cesar E. Chavez Parkway. About 50 white nationalists and their supporters threatened to enter Chicano Park to destroy the park’s famous murals. About 1,000 people rallied on the west portion of the park, across Logan Avenue from the protesters. SDPD formed a human barricade down the center of Logan Avenue to separate the groups. Two arrests and one detainment were made on the white supremacist side of the street. No one from the pro-Chicano Park rally was arrested.

After about 45 minutes, the white extremists started to file out of the park behind fenced basketball courts on the north side of the park. SDPD escorted them away as rally participants celebrated with song and prayers. Minutes later, about 210 yards to the north, the officer and Jefferson had their encounter.

Tennebaum mischaracterized the event in court, calling it “an immigration protest.” He described the white supremacists as a “pro-government” group and said he and Ruggiero were concerned about Jefferson because he was wearing a red shirt. At an early morning SDPD briefing, he said, officers were told that members of “Antifa” (anti-fascist) wore red shirts. (Antifa activists are actually known for wearing all black.) Tennebaum said SDPD officers were told by superiors that demonstrators at Chicano Park were predominantly Antifa.

Peace in Chicano Park

Organizers of the Chicano Park rally dismissed Tennebaum’s statements in court as “wildly inaccurate.” Muralist Salvador Barajas, who attended the Chicano Park rally, said participants were there to protect the park’s murals from vandalism threatened by the white supremacists.

“It was a beautiful, peaceful event on our side of the park,” he said. “There were Chicanos, Anglos, Native Americans and people of faith coming together to reaffirm the special nature of Chicano Park as a place of peace for all people of San Diego County.”

Jefferson, who recently moved to San Diego from Baltimore, said he does not belong to any organizations and had no idea there had been a rally at Chicano Park.

Looking for a Fresh Start

Jefferson admitted he has had previous scrapes with law enforcement. He was arrested in Baltimore for assaulting a gang member he said was trying to rob him and in Philadelphia for disorderly conduct for illegally charging his cell phone in a public park. Jefferson was released from the U.S. Navy on an other-than-honorable discharge for lying to his superiors while covering up for a shipmate.

He said he moved to San Diego for a fresh start and his life was on a promising path. He had recently received a housing voucher, he said, and looked forward to finding work and leaving behind his life on the streets. On the day of his confrontation with San Diego police, he said, he was trying to walk through Logan Heights to a restaurant where he and a friend planned to have lunch. He said he is saddened that people see him only as “a homeless black man” who assaulted a police officer.

“They are not looking at the fact that I did not start this,” he said. “There was no part of my day where I initiated this.”

Jefferson said he has great respect for police officers and did not mean to injure Ruggiero. He said he understands now that the officers were likely tired and stressed when he encountered them.

“I have not created an opportunity (for myself) to have the honor to wear a uniform such as a police officer’s,” he said, “so I can’t imagine the amount of stress it takes to uphold that duty with pride honorably.”

Jefferson said Ruggiero and the SDPD need to be held accountable and he plans to file a lawsuit claiming police brutality and violation of his civil rights.

The Sun has left numerous messages over the course of four weeks with the San Diego Police Department seeking interviews with Ruggiero and Zimmerman before her retirement. As of deadline, there have been no responses.

Jefferson was assigned public defender Jimmy Rodriguez. His bail is set at $250,000, which he said he cannot pay. His next court hearing is scheduled for April 11.

Video of the confrontation can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gxcruExWQU&t=2s.

Police Attack in Logan Heights: The Sequence of Events, Feb. 3, 2018.

• Before 9 a.m. SDPD close Cesar E. Chavez Parkway, Logan Avenue, and ramps on and off I-5. Police erected barriers down the middle of Chavez Parkway with a line of motorcycles. A secondary barrier at the foot of an off ramp staffed with officers prevented anyone from leaving the protest area without a police escort.
  • Beginning around 9 a.m. a crowd begins to gather for a peaceful rally opposing white supremacy and the Patriot Picnic, organized by white supremacist Roger Ogden. At the peak of the rally the crowd swells to about 1,000.
  • About 10:10 a.m. a collection of about 50 loosely affiliated white supremacists begin to assemble in a corner of Chicano Park east of Logan Avenue. Some shouting and gesturing between the groups separated by police, but no violence. Two white supremacists are arrested for fighting each other.
  • About 11:45 a.m. the Patriots Picnic participants begin to file out of Chicano Park around a fenced basketball court. They are escorted by SDPD. Four Native American musicians on the other side of the street serenade them in a prayer for peace. Most peace rally participants gather at the Aztec pyramid in the heart of Chicano Park for speakers, music and prayer. Rally participants still not allowed to exit Chicano Park at its north end.
  • Shortly after noon. Frederick Jefferson exits the commercial district north of the intersection of Logan Avenue and Cesar E. Chavez Parkway, which is still closed. He jaywalks across Logan Avenue where he is met by two SDPD officers. A video captures an officer and Jefferson engaged in a verbal altercation, then a scuffle. SDPD Officer Matthew Ruggiero pursues Jefferson and clubs him in the head area full force with a nightstick. Jefferson counters with a forceful punch to the officer’s face, breaking his nose and some facial bones.
  • Jefferson returns to the west side of Logan Avenue and is clubbed in the legs by other SDPD officers until he falls to the ground.
  • Multiple videos show police piling on Jefferson, beating him and wrestling with him in a large pool of blood.
  • Jefferson is incapacitated and pinned to the ground by five SDPD officers, but a female SDPD officer on the south side of the scrum charges up a Taser weapon. She discharges it into Jefferson’s back.
  • Seconds later an officer on the north side of the pile up pepper sprays Jefferson in the face.
  • Jefferson is pushed into a squad car and taken away. He is later charged with four felonies, including assaulting a police officer, assault with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest.
  • Leader of the Patriots Picnic group and the Chicano Park peace rally tell journalists and police that Jefferson was not a participant in the protest or rally and was not in Chicano Park.
  • Wahl appears on TV newscasts and said Jefferson hit the officer in an unprovoked attack in Chicano Park. He also said Jefferson was not injured.
  • SDPD Chief Shelley Zimmerman appears on evening newscasts and says the officer is badly injured. She does not acknowledge that the officer struck the first blows. She incorrectly states that the altercation occurred in Chicano Park.
  • Multiple San Diego County and Los Angeles print and broadcast news outlets incorrectly report that Jefferson and the officer had fought in Chicano Park at the white supremacist protest. No media outlet reports that the officer had struck Jefferson first.
  • The Sun acquires video showing that the SDPD officer struck Jefferson first. The video also shows Jefferson being pepper sprayed in the face even though he is pinned to the ground by at least five SDPD officers. Another video shot from a different angle shows Jefferson being shocked with a Taser weapon by SDPD.
  • Jefferson is being held in the George F. Bailey Detention Center in Otay Mesa. His bail is set at $250,000.       He said he is not able to raise bail and was assigned a San Diego County Public Defender because he has no money to hire an attorney. Prosecutors say he faces nine years in prison for assaulting a police officer and three other felony charges.
• SDPD body camera video shown in court March 9 supports the accounts of witnesses who said police provoked the confrontation and hit Jefferson first.