SWAMPSCOTT — An independent report on the December arrest of a Black Lives Matter protester found that officers from the Swampscott Police Department had probable cause for the arrest, but made missteps in their investigation.
The 117-page report, produced by New Hampshire-based consulting company Municipal Resources, Inc. (MRI), and four retired police chiefs, was released in a redacted form on Tuesday afternoon.
“This report ensures that the town of Swampscott has objectively and effectively conducted a top to bottom review of how the Swampscott Police Department handled this incident,” said Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald in a statement. “It is imperative that the findings contained in this report now result in changes to ensure that the Swampscott Police Department meets the highest ethical and professional standards of public safety and public service.”
The arrest occurred at a December 12 pro-Donald Trump protest in Swampscott’s Monument Square. Ernst Jean-Jacques, also known as “Shimmy,” was taking part in a counter-protest with the group Out Now when Trump supporter Linda Greenberg, 80, threw water at him from a plastic bottle. In a video from the incident, Jean-Jacques reaches toward Greenberg, but accounts differ as to what happened next.
Jean-Jacques, identified as Person 1 in the report, was arrested and charged with felony assault and battery on a person over the age of 60, as police and some witnesses say they believe he punched Greenberg, Person 2 in the report. Jean-Jacques and his attorney maintain that he simply tried to take the bottle away from her, and reached toward her with an open hand, not a closed fist.
MRI conducted interviews with 14 SPD officers and studied other materials and videos from the event from January to February.
The report found that police acted with probable cause in the arrest, as two officers independently came to the conclusion that Jean-Jacques punched Greenberg, and that the arrest was not influenced by Jean-Jacques’ race, age, gender or apparent political affiliation; however, based on video from the scene, the authors of the report found that the conclusion that he punched Greenberg was incorrect.
“In the case of police review of the 12/12/20 action in Swampscott, the ability to review video imagery in the calm of the aftermath with multiple angles and at slow and stop speeds has allowed a clearer picture of the incident to emerge,” the report says. “After reviewing the videos, it is evident to MRI that (Jacques) did not make a fist as (he) moved forward.”
The report further states that based on Greenberg’s admission to having thrown the water, there is probable cause for charging her with assault and battery. In interviews included in the report, SPD officers say that this possibility was brought up, but they decided against it as they did not see Greenberg throw the water. MRI found that police acted within their policy discretion when making this decision.
Jean-Jacques and his attorney may still file assault charges against Greenberg in court.
However, the report did conclude that the initial post-arrest investigation in the arrest was “conducted in a disjointed and cursory manner; as such, the investigation was inconsistent with industry standards and best practices.” MRI identifies several instances in which officers failed to follow up with witnesses, and notes that no officer attempted to interview Jean-Jacques before arresting him or after advising him of his Miranda rights.
In addition, the arresting officer, identified as “Officer E” in the report, was found to be at fault for telling Jean-Jacques to “shut the (expletive) up” while escorting him away from the scene. Officer E said in an interview with MRI that he said this as a de-escalation technique. MRI found that this statement went against the department’s regulations and “could have just as easily served to ‘escalate’ rather than ‘de-escalate’ an already adversarial crowd of protesters.”
The report deferred to the state attorney general to determine whether Jean-Jacques was the victim of civil rights violations, as his attorney alleges. It also left the outcome of the criminal case up to the criminal court to determine.
On January 22, Select Board Chair Peter Spellios and Vice Chair Polly Titcomb released a letter asking Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett to drop the charges against Jean-Jacques.
The Select Board will discuss the results of the report in their meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Jean-Jacques will next appear in Lynn District Court for his criminal case on March 29.