LOS ANGELES—Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced this week that he will be investigating the leak of a video that appeared in a Los Angeles Times article showing a sheriff’s deputy kneeling on a handcuffed inmate’s head for three minutes.
“This is stolen property that was removed illegally from people who had some intent, criminal intent, and it'll be subject to investigation,” Villanueva said during an April 26 press conference.
Villanueva said the sheriff’s department won’t be the only agency investigating the video leak and said evidence will be “handed over to the appropriate prosecutorial agencies so they can make a determination.”
Los Angeles Times reporter Alene Tchekmedyian reported in March the sheriff’s department “covered up” the case, “fearing bad publicity,” citing internal records obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
The deputy in the video, dated March 2021, was relieved of duty immediately after Villanueva saw it in November, the sheriff said.
Villanueva said the matter is a “complex area of law and freedom of the press.”
“When it’s stolen material, at some point you actually become part of the story,” he said.
“We will vigorously defend Tchekmedyian’s and the Los Angeles Times’ rights in any proceeding or investigation brought by authorities,” Kevin Merida, executive editor of the Los Angeles Times, said in a statement.
However, the sheriff’s department later clarified that it has “no interest in pursuing, nor are we pursuing, criminal charges against any reporters.”
Others who are allegedly involved in the leak include Villanueva’s election competitor Eli Vera, and sheriff’s Inspector General Max Huntsman, who were both cited in the Los Angeles Times article.
