Prison officers caught on camera dropping transgender woman on her face in chokehold

In March this year, jury in Baltimore City indicted three corrections officers

A transgender woman’s lawyer has released a video allegedly showing officers at the Baltimore correctional facility dragging her in a chokehold and dropping her on her face.

Amber Canter was held at the Baltimore City Central Booking and Intake Centre when the incident took place in June 2019, according to her civic lawsuit against the state and officers involved.

The video provided to CNN by Ms Canter’s attorney Malcolm Ruff, shows her being dragged in a chokehold by three correctional officers. At one point, an officer can be seen dropping Ms Canter, when she falls on her face. Two officers then lift Ms Canter by her hands and drag her away. She seemed unresponsive in the video.

The woman said that she suffered bone fractures in her face, severe bruising to the left side of her forehead and internal bleeding behind her eye. She also had to be taken to an intensive care unit after this incident, she said in the lawsuit.

Ms Canter initially filed a lawsuit on her own in August 2019. Her attorney filed an amended complaint on 30 November ​this year.

Officer Zanel Santana was named as the officer who held her in the chokehold and dropped her. Ms Canter has alleged that her federal and state civil rights were violated and is suing for a minimum of $75,000 (£57,000) in damages for each of the 11 counts.

In March this year, a jury in Baltimore City indicted the three corrections officers. Officer Santana was charged with one count of first-degree assault and two counts of misconduct in office. Correctional Officer Sergeant Monyette Washington and Uchenna Okeke were each charged with two counts of misconduct in office.

However, she has requested the jury to ultimately decide on both the total compensatory and punitive damages.

As per the lawsuit, on 14 June 2019, a corrections officer informed Ms Canter that they intended to transfer her to a different facility that day. If not, she was told she would be given recreational time outside her cell.

This corrections officer then informed his colleague in charge of Ms Canter, who allegedly said that she did not “give a f***, this f***** will not get nothing extra”.

The officer attempted to lock Ms Canter in the cell, but she refused as the other officer had promised her time outside. She asked for a supervisor, but when there was no response, she went into a “nearby sally port, sat on the floor in the middle of the room in protest”, the lawsuit said.

Officer Santana then arrived and allegedly shouted to Officer Washington: “Mace this f****** d***sucker!”

Ms Canter’s attorneys in a statement said that they will not let the crime go unaddressed.

“We will not let this apparent hate crime, committed under the watch of the Maryland prison system, go unaddressed. Amber has long fought for transgender rights and has vigorously complained about the state correctional system’s mistreatment of her and other members of the LGBTQ inmate community,” Mr Ruff and attorney William H Murphy Jr told CNN.

“Such senseless brutality against the transgender community cannot and will not be tolerated, no matter where it occurs,” they added.