Mother in police brutality case says Al Sharpton coming to Indy

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - The mother of a teen roughed up by IMPD officers last month says well-known activist Reverend Al Sharpton is coming to Indianapolis to discuss her son's case.

Shantay Chandler, Brandon Johnson's mother, says Sharpton will be at the Messiah Baptist Church on July 11.

Chandler told 24-Hour News 8’s Karen Hensel someone from Sharpton's office called to inform her of the visit and said Sharpton will be in Indianapolis on behalf of her son.

Chandler said, "I have a lot of respect for him (Sharpton) and I know he stands for what he believes in."

An IMPD officer was fired and another reprimanded following the case of alleged police brutality.

An internal investigation started with the May 16 arrest of 15-year-old Brandon Johnson. Police say he was resisting arrest as police tried to take his younger brother into custody.

One of the five officers who responded to the call of a possible burglary in progress was Jerry Piland, who lived nearby. He was off-duty, in plain clothes, but in a marked police car.

As officers tried to restrain Brandon Johnson, who they say was being unruly, an internal police investigation found Piland slapped Johnson in the head and used knee strikes to his body while Johnson was on the ground.

Johnson suffered a broken nose, broken teeth and a swollen eye.

A state representative and ministers have called for a federal investigation.

In perspective, Sharpton makes headlines when he takes on an issue. He stepped in on the case of Duke Lacrosse players charged with rape. He questioned the handling of Michael Jackson and just last week he appeared in Detroit where a seven-year-old girl was killed during a police raid. He questioned whether officers in nicer suburbs would throw a stun grenade into a house.

As for the Indianapolis visit, Public Safety Director Frank Straub already plans to be out of town.

IMPD says they are not responding either way to the visit.

Sharpton's visit comes at the beginning of the annual Black Expo event scheduled to begin July 10.