Ex-Pearl police officer sentenced for forcing arrestee into licking urine. See how long
A federal judge sentenced a former Pearl police officer Wednesday for forcing a detainee into licking his own urine from the floor of a holding cell within the police department, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a Wednesday afternoon press release.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew S. Harris handed down a 12-month prison sentence to 26-year-old Michael Christian Green.
Green plead guilty March 14 to one count of acting under color of law to deprive a person of his civil rights.
According to court documents, Green responded to a disturbance at a Sam’s Club on Dec. 23, 2023, and arrested a man identified as B.E.
Once B.E. was booked, security footage from the holding cell showed B.E. attempting to tell Green that he needed to urinate. The court records state that after not receiving a response, B.E. urinated in a corner.
Court documents say that when Green was later told about the urine, Green threatened to beat the arrestee with a phone. The report states that Green also commanded the arrestee to lick up the urine.
Read for more details on case: Court documents show graphic details of detainee's abuse by former Pearl police officer
According to the court records, while standing in the doorway of the holding cell, Green commanded B.E. to get on the ground and “suck it up.” Green then “removed his phone from his duty vest and filmed” B.E., who complied.
Court documents say when B.E. began the action, he “gagged” multiple times in the process. When the arrestee would gag, Green responded with statements such as “don’t spit it out” and “lick that [expletive] up. Drink your [expletive] piss.”
In a March news conference, Pearl Mayor Jake Windham told reporters Green worked with the Pearl Police Department for approximately six months and had “some personnel issues, but nothing like this.”
More on when the news broke: Former Pearl police officer accused of 'bullying arrestee into licking urine off floor'
Authorities said when the city discovered this disturbing incident over the Christmas weekend, it quickly opened an internal investigation. By Dec. 27, 2023, Green was terminated.
Windham said the department handled the matter with “tremendous care.”
“We hold our officers to a higher standard than this, and it’s upsetting to having to be exposed to incidents like that,” Windham said.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Former Pearl police officer sentenced, forced arrestee to lick urine
