A Black inmate at a Georgia jail accused a corrections officer of choking him with a leg restraint and making a racist comment while three other officers watched, according to a lawsuit.
Tremar Harris sued three corrections officers with the Appling County Sheriff’s Office in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia on Tuesday.
The suit says that the officers "had a duty to intervene" and stop the Jan. 29, 2022, assault but that instead, they stood and watched as former corrections officer William Rentz "pulled the chain against the Plaintiff’s throat and strangled" him for about four seconds.
Rentz, who is not listed as a defendant in the lawsuit but is listed in an earlier one filed by Harris, was subsequently arrested and charged with aggravated assault, battery and violation of oath of office. The more recent suit says he was fired.
The sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Harris was a pretrial detainee in solitary confinement at the Appling County Jail, according to the suit. While he was at the jail, he was placed in a restraint chair and put in a padded cell, it says.
The suit says that Harris was able to free his right arm from the restraint on the chair and that the three defendants entered the cell to secure him with handcuffs.
"Subsequently, while standing above and behind the Plaintiff who was seated and secured in the restraint chair, Officer Rentz used the chain of an unused leg restraint and placed it across the Plaintiff’s throat," the suit says.
While Rentz choked Harris, the officer said "he was gonna put you (Plaintiff) back in the cotton field with the other boys inferring that the Plaintiff was a slave," the suit says. Rentz is white.
A photo included in the lawsuit shows the officer appearing to choke Harris with the leg restraint while the three defendants watch.
The suit says Harris was not posing a threat and feared he might die during the alleged assault.
"Plaintiff was in a state of terror and extreme fear at the time and after Officer Rentz took the chain of the leg restraint and strangled him," it says.
The three officers could not be reached for comment at phone numbers listed for them. It's not clear whether they have obtained attorneys.
Harris filed a separate federal civil lawsuit against Rentz in January. Rentz said Harris was placed in solitary confinement because he was acting erratically, court documents said. Rentz said in the documents that he believed his actions "were appropriate and necessary."
An attorney for Rentz said he had no comment beyond the lawsuit.
Harris is seeking damages against Rentz and the three officers. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.