More than three years after an officer was seen on video slamming a man to the ground, the Chicago Police Board voted to suspend another officer involved in the arrest for 90 days.
The Police Board voted unanimously Thursday to suspend Officer Mark Johnson, who arrived at a Chatham bus stop on Thanksgiving Day of 2019 after another officer had slammed 32-year-old Bernard Kersh to the ground.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability had called for Johnson’s termination, alleging he didn’t properly care for Kersh and made false statements following the arrest.
Plainclothes officers driving an unmarked squad car saw Kersh drinking vodka at the bus stop and tried to ticket him before he was slammed, according to police. Kersh spat in one of the officers’ eyes as police tried to ticket him, and the officer then did an “emergency takedown,” authorities said.
Video of Sgt. Jerald Williams picking Kersh up and slamming him to the ground circulated online, drawing outrage and concern from many corners. Then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot called the video “very disturbing.”
At least seven officers, including two sergeants, faced possible discipline for their role in the arrest, though not all of those cases have been adjudicated, city records show.
In November 2021, two years after he was slammed to the ground, Kersh pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery for spitting on the officer, according to Cook County court records. Kersh was sentenced to two years in prison, but was credited for the time he spent in jail and eleased from custody.
Kersh also filed a lawsuit against the city, Johnson and Williams. That lawsuit is still pending, court records show, and earlier this year Kersh’s attorneys argued that the city wrongly withheld records related to Williams’ disciplinary history.
Though COPA called for Williams to face a 45-day suspension, records show former CPD Superintendent David Brown recommended a 135-day suspension for Williams, a former mixed martial arts fighter. Williams has not served that suspension and was in the “grievance process” as of Friday, according to a police spokesperson.
COPA recommended that Johnson be fired, though Brown said only a 10-day suspension was warranted. That disagreement triggered a process called a “Request for Review,” where one member of the Police Board, selected at random, decided if Johnson should face an evidentiary hearing — the board’s version of a trial where evidence and witness testimony is presented for the full board.
That board member, Vice President Paula Wolff, agreed with COPA, and Brown later lodged charges against Johnson that sought his firing, city records show.
In its announcement Thursday, the board determined Johnson violated CPD rules when he didn’t check Kersh’s condition before carrying him and shoving him into a police car. The officer failed to show concern for the man’s condition and didn’t treat him respectfully, the board ruled. Attorneys for Kersh previously said that he suffers from mental illness, and that him being thrown to the ground may have caused a brain injury.
Johnson also violated CPD rules by not activating his body-worn camera in time and not securing Kersh with a seat belt as he transported him to the hospital, the board determined.
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However, the board determined that Johnson did not violate the department’s “Rule 14,” which prohibits making false statements. A sustained Rule 14 violation typically signals the end of an officer’s career because they can no longer credibly testify in court proceedings.
Statements Johnson made about Kersh’s condition could not be proven to be “willfully false,” the board said.
In a report he made hours after transporting Kersh, Johnson said Kersh was “alert” and “feigning unconsciousness.” The administrative charges against Johnson alleged he knew Kersh was at times unconscious.
In determining that Johnson wasn’t lying when he said that Kersh was conscious, the board cited testimony from Johnson and another officer that Kersh’s eyes opened and they felt his body tense as they tried to handcuff him. The board also cited body-worn camera footage showing Johnson discussing his belief that Kersh was conscious with other officers at the scene.
Johnson was also accused of falsely writing in a report that he gave Kersh commands before arresting him. Johnson later acknowledged the claim was not accurate, but the board determined the claim wasn’t willfully false.
Johnson made the report hours after his interaction with Kersh and the officer was reportedly “messed up” after giving chest compressing to a gunshot victim who died two days earlier, factors that the board said contributed to their determination.
After Kersh and Johnson’s initial interaction, the officer treated Kersh with “nothing but courtesy and respect under difficult circumstances” despite Kersh being combative in the squad car and later in the hospital, the board wrote.
