To the Editor,

First of all, my boyfriend, Jacob Bartlett, and myself are not anti-police and we do not support the defund the police movement.

Secondly, I would not say Jacob was heavily intoxicated. We were grilling outside because we both had the day off and both had two or three mixed drinks. Jacob never resisted police after he was handcuffed.

Third: Jacob never threatened to kill anyone. He was speaking of the issues in this nation; what he thought should be done to stop all the riots and violence. Jacob supports good cops and law enforcement who don’t violate the laws.

Forth: The statement that officers Warren and Taylor were protecting me from Jacob is a complete lie. I can speak for myself, I do not need them to speak for me. Jacob was inside the house and I was outside with officer Taylor, telling him Jacob wasn’t harming me and that I was OK.

Fifth: The statement when Jacob said he doesn’t hit women was taken completely out of context, I assume to protect officers Warren and Taylor’s corrupt behavior. Jacob never threatened to harm either officer. It was the officers that had issues with Jacob from the start.

Sixth: Jacob never came outside of the house. The officers entered the house illegally with me following. It was then that I turned on my phone and I have video evidence of them tasering Jacob after Jacob told them he wasn’t going to harm them and that they were trespassing and needed to leave our property.

They tased Jacob more than three times, without warning, and dragged him by his arms out the door. When Jacob got on his feet he attempted to get the officers off of him and that’s when I saw officer Warren attempting to choke him from behind. It was at this time that I saw officer Warren’s finger in Jacob’s right eye like he was trying to rip his eye out. (Later Jacob said he didn’t know what was going on because of the continuous shocks.)

Seven: When Jacob became coherent, he allowed them to handcuff him with two cuffs and they walked him to the car. That’s when I saw officer Warren appear to strike Jacob in the back of the neck and slam his head into the car as they put him into the car. I then called Jacob’s brother, Mr. Jason Bartlett, to let him know what was going on.

Eight: Jacob did not get any treatment inside the jail for his injuries, especially his infected eye. The only one who attempted to help was a corrections officer who brought him an ice pack for his eye.

Finally: We have all the medical records from Emergency Room after Jacob was bonded out. I thought when law enforcement officers took an oath to defend the Constitution and our laws that meant something. But that obviously doesn’t mean anything to officers Warren and Taylor. Good law enforcement officers need to stand against police brutality just as they stand against other violators of the law.

Kierra Leslie

Shelbyville