Police allegedly forced a man to lick a public urinal charged with violating civil rights

Two police officers in Honolulu, Hawaii, who allegedly forced a homeless man to lick a urinal in a public restroom, were charged with human rights violations on Friday, federal authorities said.

John Rabago, 43, and Reginald Ramones, 43, were each charged with one count of conspiracy to deprive a person of his civil rights and one count of indictment. to have acted in the color of the law to deprive the same individual of his civil rights.

They pleaded not guilty in federal court on Friday and were released for $ 25,000 of unsecured obligations.

They each incur a maximum prison term of 11 years and a fine of US $ 350,000, based on the combined charges, arising from an incident in Honolulu in January 2018.

The authorities allege that Rabago and Ramones responded to an intrusion complaint, where they fell on the victim and forced her to lick a urinal in a public restroom.

The alleged misconduct was reported by another officer from the Honolulu Police Department who responded. The department later turned over the case to the FBI. Rabago and Ramones were also put on unpaid leave.

Megan Kau, a lawyer representing Rabago and Ramones, told NBC News Sunday that they were maintaining their innocence and were confident that a jury of their peers would acquit them.