Trial Bond Hearing For Anne Arundel County Police Officer Who Knelt On Black Suspect In 2019 Postponed
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- Community members in Anne Arundel County continue to press for answers in a 2019 incident involving a police officer who knelt on the upper body of a young Black suspect.
Video shows Officer Daniel Reynolds kneeling on Daniel Jarrels while Jarrels was being detained. Jarrels later sued the Anne Arundel County Police Department seeking to have Reynolds fired.
Reynolds was scheduled to have a trial bond hearing Wednesday morning as he fights to keep his job.
A limited number of people are allowed to attend, but local activists want the hearing open to the public and live-streamed.
"The public has a right to know what restraint was used and how it impacted the suspect's ability to breathe," Jacqueline Alsop, the NAACP chair for Anne Arundel County, said.
Alsop added the police department "has a great opportunity to restore trust in the community by making police trial board hearings open to the public."
Leaders from the NAACP, United Black Clergy and the Caucus of African American Leaders, as well as state Del. Shaneka Henson (D-Anne Arundel County), said what happened in 2019 was too similar to what happened to George Floyd in Minnesota 15 months later. Jarrels was not seriously hurt, but the community wants change and restored trust in the police department.
"The legal system says everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty and no one person should be the judge, jury and executioner," Henson said.
Police said Jarrels was initially stopped for a traffic violation and later charged with resisting arrest. Once a complaint was filed, all charges against him were dropped.
The next step is Reynolds' hearing, which has been postponed. A new date has not been set.
The police department did not respond to a request for comment following a news conference Wednesday.
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