A Detroit-area officer who assaulted a Black man after an arrest pleads guilty

WARREN, Mich. (AP) — A suburban Detroit police officer who punched a young Black man in the face and slammed his head to the ground has pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights violation. Matthew Rodriguez acknowledged using “unreasonable force” against the 19-year-old man while processing him in the fingerprint room at the Warren jail in June. He also admits he subsequently made false statements about the incident. The Warren police department fired Rodriguez and released video of the incident. The police commissioner at the time said, “This is not what we do.”