Man Beaten by Police Cleared of Wrongdoing

It took jurors less than an hour to find Askia Sabur not guilty on all charges

Askia Sabur, 28, is found not guilty on all charges leading up to a 2010 police beating caught on cell phone video in a West Philadelphia neighborhood.

Police claim on September 3, 2010, Sabur was blocking the doorway to a chinese restaurant on Lansdowne Avenue and when they asked him to move, he refused and hit one of the officers.

The graphic video, uploaded to YouTube, shows the officers tackling him on the sidewalk and beating him with a baton. The beating lasts for the duration of the 2-minute and 29-second video.

On the cell phone video, Sabur is heard saying “I didn’t do nothing wrong."

Today, it took jurors less than a hour to find him not guilty of aggravated assault, disarming a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest, among other charges.

"I'm proud to live in Philadelphia. This is a clear message that citizenry of this city will not tolerate rogue cops and police misconduct," said Evan Hughes, Sabor's attorney.

The District Attorney's Office did conduct an investigation and cleared the officers of any wrong-doing.

However, sources tell NBC10 that a police internal investigation found that one of the officers did use excessive force. Those findings will go before the Fraternal Order of Police.

The Sabor family says this is a victory for all Philadelphians.

"We're very relieved, we're very happy and now we can get back to our normal lives. This is a huge, tremendous victory, not just for us as a family but for the community as well, " said Naimah Wilson, Sabor's sister.




 

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