College Student Nearly Gets Beaten To Death By Cops But It Was Mistaken Identity, Kid still Got Charged And Cops Got Immunity

James King, a law-abiding college student in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was brutally beaten in an unjustifiable case of mistaken identity. Taskforce members misidentified James as a fugitive; stopped, searched, beat and choked him into unconsciousness; and then—even after it was clear they had the wrong man—arrested James and charged his with a series of felonies to cover their tracks. After fighting a criminal prosecution aimed at preventing James from vindicating his constitutional rights and sending him to prison, James was acquitted. But that was just the beginning.



When James filed a lawsuit against the officers to hold them to account for their actions, the officers argued they were entitled to several forms of immunity and persuaded the court to throw out James’ case. An appeals court reversed the worst parts of that decision, but the government has now taken James’ case to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the Court to shield the officers from any accountability for violating the Constitution.