Indicted Las Vegas Cop Arranged Fake Arrests Of Mostly Black Men: Report

Kevin Menon. | Source: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department

The “majority” of people allegedly victimized by a Las Vegas police officer criminally charged for orchestrating a series of fake arrests were Black men, according to a new report.

Kevin Menon, a 10-year veteran of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), was indicted in August on 13 different charges, including battery on a protected person and eight counts of oppression under color of office. A grand jury indicted the police sergeant months after he was placed on leave from MPD.

Select portions of transcripts from the grand jury proceeding have recently been made public to reveal Menon’s alleged modus operandi: to illegally detain fake suspects on the famous Las Vegas Strip with the help of uniformed MPD officers while dressed in plain clothes.

Some of the officers who participated in the allegedly fake arrests testified before the grand jury that they faced rank-and-file threats to comply.

“‘I’m the [expletive] sergeant, you idiot,’” one officer testified Menon said while shoving him to coerce the cop into producing a fake arrest report.

Other officers also testified that Menon forced them to make fake arrests.

At least one testified that Menon claimed “The captain has my back,” suggesting that the officers had no choice but to comply out of fear of reprisal from a commanding officer if they didn’t.

There was a racial element to the arrests as well, according to KLAS, which reported that the “majority of individuals listed in the criminal case who were taken into custody were Black men.”

Menon was ultimately placed on administrative leave and a grand jury was convened after an officer sent a whistle-blower letter to the local police union complaining of the sergeant’s alleged behavior.

Menon is scheduled to be in court on Oct. 23.

False arrests of Black people

Black folks are no strangers to false arrests.

Notably, a Black trans woman in Atlanta was awarded $1.5 million after spending six months in jail on trumped-up cocaine charges. Ju’Zema Goldring was walking with a group of friends in October 2015 when two Atlanta police officers stopped the group and arrested Goldring for jaywalking, which she said she didn’t do. “During the arrest, an officer searched Goldring’s purse and found a stress ball. He cut it open and tested it for cocaine,” WSB-TV reported. “Defense attorneys said that despite the fact that the test was negative, the officer charged Goldring with trafficking cocaine.”

And in Brockton, Massachusetts, it was determined that officer Jorge Delgado falsely accused a Black man of wielding a knife during a confrontation over a handicapped parking spot to justify what was ruled to be an illegal arrest.

Delgado approached Williamson and demanded to know why he was parked in a handicapped spot outside a medical facility but was not properly displaying a handicapped placard. A surveillance video appears to show Williamson, who has an amputated leg, present the placard to the officer. However, Delgado insisted on writing a ticket, which led to Williamson exiting his vehicle and arguing with Delgado. During their verbal altercation, Williamson said Delgado called him the N-word. That prompted Delgado to fabricate the narrative that Williamson had a knife before he made the false arrest.

This is America.

SEE ALSO:

Charges Dropped After Cop Caught In Lie About Innocent Black Man

Black Journalist Sues LAPD, Police Chief Over False Arrest