Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Yolanda Tanner said she would make an example out of Baltimore police officer Arthur Williams who she sentenced to nine months in prison on Friday.
Williams, 26, was convicted in June on misconduct and second-degree assault charges for a beating that was captured on video.
Williams resigned after the video went viral showing him beating 26-year-old DaShawn McGrier on August 11, 2018.
It happened when Williams and another officer were on duty, approached McGrier and told him to “come here.”
McGrier repeatedly asks why he was being stopped by the officers and the conversation quickly escalated.
“Why are you following me? Why are you harassing me?” McGrier asked Williams, Baltimore Circuit Judge Yolanda Tanner said in open court.
Eventually, a beating ensued with Williams beating McGrier over and over again, breaking his ribs and jaw.
McGrier, who spent three days in the hospital and underwent therapy, still wears a back brace after the assault.
The video, which went viral last year, shows McGrier walking away from Williams and refusing to give his ID.
“A citizen does get to walk away from you, even if you’re a police officer,” Judge Tanner told Williams at his sentencing.
“I believe based on the evidence submitted, this is more than a mistake or a misunderstanding of the use of force,” she added.
Assistant State’s attorney Stephen Trostle pushed for a one-year sentence, which exceeded sentencing guidelines because the attack was “unnecessary, unprovoked and violent.”
“Once in a while the court has to make an example,” Trostle said.
“No matter how nice of a guy Williams was with other people in the past….”
At his sentencing, when it was his time to speak, Williams apologized to McGrier, who did not respond.
Williams went on to reveal that he was also assaulted by a police officer when he was younger.
The officer mistook Williams for another kid causing trouble, confronted Williams, and then struck him.
“From that day, I wanted to be a cop to be better and then I made the same mistake, ” Williams told the court.
“That was the hardest thing.”
Williams, who graduated at the top of his police class according to his attorney Thomas Maronick Jr., won numerous awards with the Baltimore Police Department.
