RELEASE: Louisiana Democratic Party on Clay Higgins’ Resurfaced Past of Police Brutality

Louisiana Democratic Party on Clay Higgins’ Resurfaced Past of Police Brutality

BATON ROUGE, LA – The Louisiana Democratic Party released the following statement after an investigation resurfaced Rep. Clay Higgins’ past of police brutality in the Opelousas Police Department:

“It’s no surprise Clay Higgins is so quiet in the wake of national calls for police reform and Congressional debates on police brutality. He knows that he himself is guilty. In 2007, Higgins brutally beat Andre ‘Red’ Richard as he lay handcuffed, face-down on the ground. He lied about it, falsely accused Richard of battery and quit his job before he could be further investigated or fired,” Stephen Handwerk, Executive Director of the Louisiana Democratic Party said.

“There’s a clear trend of past assault and violence from Clay Higgins. Higgins quit the department before he was held accountable for his assault, but this November, the people of Louisiana will hold him accountable for his failure to lead our state. He wasn’t fit to serve his community as an officer, and he isn’t fit to serve Louisiana as a Congressman.

“Now we learn that the Congressman has continued using our taxpayer dollars to employ his questionable friends – this time John Chautin who we know was part of the cover up in Higgins’ assault of Mr. Richard.  Surely someone who participated in the cover up of this magnitude should not be on the federal government payroll. We join Rob Anderson’s call for his resignation or termination and a full investigation as to how he was hired in the first place.”