‘I Punched ’Em In the Face’: Innocent Black Man Beaten By Lying Cop Who Bragged About His Abuse Accepts Legal Settlement
The Michigan State trooper caught on video punching and kneeing a Black man who had committed no crime – and then laughing about it afterwards with other cops – claimed he had qualified immunity and could not be sued for his abuse. But a federal judge disagreed, resulting in a $145,000 settlement announced Sept. 4 for Devin Pettway, the 33-year-old Black man who filed the lawsuit after he was punched in the face by Michigan State Trooper Brennan Kelly. The beating was captured on video by a witness recording through a glass window from inside a home – contradicting the lies told by Kelly about why he had punched Pettway – which turned out to be the main reason why Kelly’s request for qualified immunity was denied. Devin Pettway, a Black man who was beaten by a cop even though he had committed no crime, agreed to a $145,000 settlement this week. (Photo: witness video and facebook.com/devin.pettway.2025) Kelly claimed in his initial report that he was only defending himself from Pettway, who was approaching him in an aggressive manner with his fists balled up, making him fear for his safety. But moments after the incident, Kelly was captured on a dashcam recording bragging to another cop about how he has a habit of punching citizens in the face. “I’ve had three uses of force here in the past month — I punched ’em in the face," Kelly said, according to The Detroit News. “You got three of those already?” the other trooper asked, laughing. “Yeah," Kelly responded in the recording that has not been made public but has been reviewed by the judge. Pettway, who spent four years fighting his legal battle, told local media he "just wanted the truth to come out and for my voice to be heard.” According to the court opinion by U.S. District Judge Linda V. Parker denying the cop qualified immunity that was published in March, which paved the way for Pettway’s settlement: There is a triable issue as to whether Trooper Kelly acted objectively reasonable when he pushed, punched, and struck Mr. Pettway with his knee several times even though the severity of the crime was low and Mr. Pettway did not impose an immediate threat to anyone’s safety or actively resist his arrest. Therefore, Trooper Kelly is not entitled to governmental immunity or summary judgment as to Mr. Pettway’s assault and battery claim. Watch the video below. ‘I’m Going to Knock You Out’ The incident took place on Nov. 6, 2021, while Pettway was visiting his sister, Auja Pettway, at her house in Detroit. Michigan State Police had a warrant for his sister’s boyfriend, Troy Graham-Napper Jr., who was wanted in a child custody kidnapping case out of Pennsylvania, accused of seizing his 8-year-old son from his mother in Pittsburgh and transporting him to Detroit. Several cops arrived and stood outside the home barking orders through a loudspeaker, informing the residents they had a warrant to search the home. Pettway, who had nothing to do with the alleged kidnapping, walked outside to tell the cops that his sister’s boyfriend would hand the child over to surrender to police. But Pettway was carrying a backpack and Kelly demanded to search it. At first, Pettway refused to allow the cop to search the backpack, but then learned the warrant authorized the cops to search it, so he allowed them to do so. But then Kelly became aggressive and started shoving Pettway. “Don’t f_cking walk up on me or I’m going to knock you out!” Kelly yelled at Pettway. But his lying accusations against Pettway were unknowingly caught on video by the witness through the window, which is what led to the judge denying Kelly qualified immunity. The Court finds a genuine dispute as to whether Mr. Pettway disobeyed any officer commands that justify the force used. Specifically, at issue is whether Mr. Pettway ignored Trooper Kelly’s order to go to the front of the house after Trooper Kelly searched him. Trooper Kelly asserts that ‘instead of complying with that decided to walk up on and jeopardize safety.” However, based on the sequence of events described in the parties’ briefs, this command should have been audible on the video footage, but it is not. The neighbor’s video does not show Mr. Pettway walking towards Trooper Kelly. In fact, it shows the opposite. Wayne County prosecutors took the word of the cop and charged Pettway and his sister with assaulting a police officer, but the charges were dismissed six months later after the video surfaced. Wayne County online court records also show Graham-Napper was extradited back to Pennsylvania, but the child was found unharmed. But Pettway had to wait four years to receive justice, and he only succeeded because a witness chose to video record the incident. His lawyer, Steve Haney, told local media the “case was about accountability and making sure that what happened to Devin doesn’t happen to anyone else.” “The settlement provides some measure of justice and allows Devin to move forward with his life and his family.”
