Justice Served for Trans Man Beaten as LA Deputy Pleads Guilty

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy Joseph Benza III agreed to plead guilty for beating Emmett Brock, a transgender man, in 2023.

Benza agreed to plead guilty to one felony count of deprivation of rights under color of law. This carries a maximum of 10 years in federal prison, all of this is according to the Department of Justice. Benza only faces the one charge, though he did admit to all charges of excessive force and obstruction of justice.

On February 10, 2023, the day of the incident, Benza was responding to a “potential domestic violence disturbance” when the encounter with Brock occurred, according to court documents. In the documents, Brock is identified as E.B., but is later identified as the victim. As Brock drove past Benza on his way to the original call, he raised his middle finger at the officer, which Benza admitted made him turn around, abandoning the potential disturbance, and follow Brock, accelerating up to 50 mph on a residential street, as stated in the plea agreement.

Per the plea agreement, when Benza caught up to Brock at a nearby gas station, he “body slammed” the man to the ground and punched him multiple times in the head and face. Brock sustained serious injuries to the head, including a concussion. The agreement states, “But for defendant’s intent and motive to retaliate against Victim E.B. for flipping-off defendant, defendant would not have pursued, stopped, or used excessive force.”

Benza also admitted to falsifying statements previously made about the case. He was advised by another deputy and sergeant to omit the fact that he followed Brock for flipping him off from the incident report, per the plea agreement. Two other deputies also admitted to discussing deleting text messages relating to the incident before the federal investigation. Benza also lied about having pulled Brock over for having an air freshener hanging from his mirror, and lied about Brock biting him to portray the man as a physical threat to his safety. He also falsely arrested Brock on a mayhem charge, but as of March 2024, Brock was declared factually innocent of all charges.

When NBC news reached out for comment, Brock was filled with relief. He had lost his teaching job due to the assault. He states, “I’m very pleased with this outcome. I’m still in shock, and I just feel very lucky to have gotten justice for this when there’s a lot of survivors of that (who) don’t, so I’m just greatly appreciative of that (…) It’s my lifelong wish that people in law enforcement live up to their public statements that they disapprove of this kind of felonious behavior and they will hold their employees accountable (because) I can give you 100 cases in which they said that and nobody went to jail.”

In the Department of Justice press release, U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada says something much the same as Brock, stating “This senseless assault and subsequent attempted cover-up are an affront to our system of justice. My office is committed to upholding civil rights and prosecuting those who abuse their authority.”