FBI gets case of Iraq veteran being beaten by Deputies

St. Tammany Sheriff Randy Smith: Deputies accused of beating veteran followed protocol
The Advocate
BY SARA PAGONES AND KATIE MOORE
MAR 23, 2018

However, Cambre's complaint was turned over to the FBI this week, not by the Sheriff's Office, but by 22nd Judicial District Attorney Warren Montgomery following what he called a "preliminary investigation" by his office.

Army veteran Chris Cambre, who says he was beaten by St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's deputies during a welfare check in January, is shown the following day with a facial laceration. Photo provided by Chris Cambre

St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Randy Smith is defending the five deputies who are accused of beating a military veteran in January, saying that they followed protocol during the incident, including the agency's policy on use of force.

Chris Cambre, a 48-year-old Pearl River resident, said he was severely beaten, Tased and handcuffed by the deputies on the night of Jan. 21, when law enforcement officials came to check on him at his trailer.

Cambre, who is a veteran of the Iraq War, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and had posted on social media that he was struggling, prompting someone to call the police.

A report written by a Pearl River police officer who was on the scene corroborates Cambre's claim that he had behaved calmly and had showed the deputies that he was not armed when they arrived with their weapons drawn.

The officer and Cambre both say that he did not resist the deputies prior to the beating.
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