Meet Charleston County Sheriff’s Sgt. Lindsay Fickett and Detention Deputy Brian Houle. The sheriff’s deputies are proud patriots, and they support the Constitution of These United States.

They were fired for fatally brutalizing Mr. Jamal Sutherland, a Black man in their custody, on January 5, 2021.

You can tell that Fickett and Houle are good deputies, decent and upstanding individuals. Because their “mug shots” from their sheriff show them in their starched neat uniforms, standing in front of the American Flag.

This must proves it, eh? Surely they’re innocent of this Fake News.

Let’s consider the essentials of this case:

Sgt. Fickett and Deputy Houle are cops.

Sgt. Fickett and Deputy Houle are, coincidently, White. (Let’s be specific: they’re Whitey pigs.)

Sgt. Fickett and Deputy Houle Tasered and pepper sprayed Mr. Sutherland whilst choking the life out of him in jail.

Mr. Sutherland was a Black man.

And this is South Carolina we’re talking about.

Anyone care to bet on the outcome for these two pigs?

From The New York Times, May 18, 2021:

2 South Carolina Deputies Are Fired for Their Role in Death of Black Man in Jail

The deputies, Sgt. Lindsay Fickett and Detention Deputy Brian Houle, used pepper spray and Tasers on Jamal Sutherland on Jan. 5 at the detention center in Charleston County.

**Sgt. Lindsay Fickett, left, and Detention Deputy Brian Houle** were fired Monday, the Charleston County sheriff announced. Credit…Charleston County Sheriff’s Office

By Neil Vigdor

May 18, 2021Updated 1:38 a.m. ET

Two sheriff’s deputies in South Carolina were fired on Monday for their role in the death of a Black man on whom they used pepper spray and Tasers after he was taken to jail from a mental health facility in January.

The actions of the deputies while they tried to remove the man from a jail cell — shown in graphic video footage that was released last week by the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office — touched off protests and prompted calls for changes to how people experiencing mental illness are treated while in custody.

The footage showed one of the deputies placing a knee on the back of the man, Jamal Sutherland, and Mr. Sutherland saying, “I can’t breathe,” which drew comparisons to last year’s killing of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis.

Mr. Sutherland, 31, was declared dead soon after the Jan. 5 encounter.

The deputies, Sgt. Lindsay Fickett and Detention Deputy Brian Houle, had been placed on administrative leave before their firing was announced Monday on Twitter by Kristin Graziano, the Charleston County sheriff.

“Today, I made the decision to terminate the two detention deputies involved in this case,” Sheriff Graziano said on Twitter. “I must weigh the interest of public safety for the community against any incident that creates even the perception of an impairment to the operation of the Detention Center for the safety of all residents, staff and our Community.”

It was not immediately clear if Ms. Fickett and Mr. Houle had lawyers, and their home phone numbers were not listed.

The local prosecutor said last week that she was reviewing the results of an investigation conducted by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division into Mr. Sutherland’s death. The prosecutor, Scarlett A. Wilson, the Ninth Circuit solicitor, said she expected to decide before the end of June whether criminal charges were warranted in the matter.

A lawyer for Mr. Sutherland’s family did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday night.

Mr. Houle had been employed by the sheriff’s office since 2016, and Ms. Fickett joined the office in 2011, Sheriff Graziano said.

Mr. Sutherland had been taken to a mental health facility, Palmetto Lowcountry Behavioral Health, but was arrested there on Jan. 4, the day before he died, after a fight broke out. Workers at the mental health center told responding officers that Mr. Sutherland had assaulted a staff member. He and another patient were arrested on the charge of third-degree assault and battery, according to The Post and Courier of Charleston.

Video of Mr. Sutherland on the day of his arrest showed him in distress, screaming “Let go of me” at officers and speaking of conspiracies, including references to the Illuminati, groups — real and fictitious — dating back centuries and said to have special knowledge.

The deadly encounter began when the deputies tried to extract Mr. Sutherland from a cell at the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center, the county jail, to take him to court for a bond hearing on Jan. 5.

The deputies released pepper spray in Mr. Sutherland’s cell twice, according to video, in which Mr. Houle later said that Mr. Sutherland had been hit with the Taser six to eight times. The video showed Mr. Sutherland writhing on the ground before he eventually lost consciousness.

A pathologist ruled the manner of Mr. Sutherland’s death as “undetermined,” stating that he died “as a result of excited state with pharmacotherapeutic effect during subdual process.” Officials declined to discuss the autopsy results further and said that the autopsy report was not a public document and would not be released.

From The Tumalo Lookout:

The South Carolina chapter of the Criminal-Industrial Complex is already circling the wagons on this case:

….Pathologist Dr. J.C. Upshaw Downs ruled the manner of Sutherland’s death as “undetermined.” Wilson said the evidence surrounding Sutherland’s death has “raised serious concerns and begged many questions.”….
….“Dr. Downs ruled the manner of Mr. Sutherland’s death is ‘undetermined,’” Wilson said. ”Dr. Downs opined, however, that Mr. Sutherland died, ‘as a result of excited state with pharmacotherapeutic effect during subdual process.’”
According to Wilson, Downs further stated that his review of the extrication process did not reveal any “unusual or excessive interactions or areas of direct concern.”
“Pathologist: No ‘unusual or excessive interactions’ during incident involving deputies, inmate,” WCSC 5 news report, May 11, 2021 (updated May 17, 2021).

If you’ve got the stomach for it, you can learn the gruesome details of Mr. Sutherland’s homicide at the hands of his jailers — and even watch the deputies’ own body cam footage of the incident.

Here are two links from news sources other than The New York Times: