James Brazier (c. 1926–April 25, 1958) was an African-American victim of police brutality and substandard medical care that followed. He was imprisoned, fined, and beaten to death by police officers, in events spanning between 1957 and 1958.[1][2] Brazier was a United States Army veteran and had lived in Dawson, Georgia.

History

Police targeted Brazier because he was black and owned nice cars from the dealership he worked at.[3] He started having police and law enforcement issues in November 1957, when he was first arrested, fined and beaten and was charged with a speeding charge and driving under the influence by Officer Weyman Burchle Cherry.[1][4] Brazier complained about severe headaches after the incident in November 1957, and his wife visited the Dawson police with a medical bill to talk about the ongoing head issues.[1]

In spring 1958 the family purchased a new 1958 Impala.[1] On April 20, 1958, he was imprisoned, fined, and beaten by the police again.[3] Brazier was arrested by Officer Cherry and placed in jail, where he saw Dr. Charles M. Ward who misdiagnosed him as drunk based on slurred speech.[3] As a result he was not given an x-ray or follow up care.[3] Brazier died on April 25, 1958, and an autopsy was conducted, it was determined that the victim died as a result of “cerebral necrosis and hemorrhage secondary to severe contra-coup trauma” and listed “skull fracture” and “multiple contusions of the scalp”.[2] The officer who killed him, had also beaten and shot other black men.[2][5][4]

His wife Hattie brought a civil lawsuit against the Dawson Police Officers, W. B. Cherry, Randolph McDonald, Zachary T. Matthews, et. al., and it took 5 years to go to trial in February 1963.[1] A key witness in the case was threatened and murdered.[2] The FBI investigated police brutality on the basis of this and other cases.[6] In 2008 the FBI reviewed the case before closing it.[7]

Weyman Cherry, 44, was killed in a car crash on October 29, 1970.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Kelly, Mary (January 22, 2019). "Hattie Brazier Stands Up". The Delacorte Review.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "James Brazier - Notice to Close File". Justice.gov. September 14, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "An Overview of the Brazier Case". The Georgia Civil Rights Cold Cases Project. Emory University.
  4. 1 2 3 "A Chief, a Coach, a Killer: Two Perspectives on Weyman B. Cherry". The Georgia Civil Rights Cold Cases Project. Emory University. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
  5. ↑ Commission on Civil Rights Report. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1961.
  6. ↑ Carson, Clayborne, ed. (1992). The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King Papers. Vol. 4. University of California Press. p. 424 n. 4. ISBN 9780520222311.
  7. ↑ "James Brazier | Un(re)solved | FRONTLINE | PBS| Web Interactive". www.pbs.org.
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