Pregnant inmate's attorney calls for JSO hate crime investigation after alleged beating

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The attorney of a pregnant woman who says she was beaten by a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office corrections officer is calling for the incident to be investigated as a hate crime.

Kirenda Welch said now-former Corrections Officer Catherine Thompson directed racial slurs toward her while she was at the Jacksonville Pretrial Detention Facility.

Welch’s attorney, Ben Crump, is also calling on JSO to release the jail surveillance video to the public.

Crump is well-known for representing the families of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown.

JSO fired Thompson last week and charged her with battery and falsifying documents.

Welch was arrested for driving with a suspended license.

In JSO’s incident report of Welch’s arrest, the arresting officer wrote under “distinguishing marks” that Welch was “LOUD AND RUDE.” It’s a place on the form where officers typically write descriptions of tattoos, birthmarks and facial hair.

The report contains no description of Welch’s arrest.

Welch admits she mouthed off to Thompson at the jail, but said she did not deserve to be restrained, punched multiple times and pepper-sprayed.

“This Officer Thompson called me ‘Kunta Kinte’ several times before she put me in shackles at the ankles and handcuffs at the wrists,” said Welch.

A photo Welch said she took after her release from jail appears to show a bruise by her left eye.

Welch’s mugshot, taken before the alleged beating, does not appear to show the same bruise.

JSO said the incident happened in a changing room at the jail with no cameras, but Crump still wants JSO to release the surveillance video the agency does have.

“What Ms. Welch encountered may not have been something that was out of the blue, if you can see people on that video just watching it happen, almost as if it’s business as usual,” said Crump.

Last year, the city of Jacksonville denied inmate Paul Testa’s family’s request to release surveillance video to the public. Testa died after being tasered and strapped into a restraint chair.

But JSO did release sallyport video in 2016, when it announced it was taking action against Officer Akinyemi Borisade for hitting handcuffed inmate Mayra Martinez.

Last week, Action News Jax requested surveillance video of Welch at the jail. We’re waiting on a response from JSO’s public records department.

Cox Media Group