A homeless man in San Diego has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit accusing a San Diego Police officer of brutalizing him during an encounter last year while other officers stood by and failed to intervene.

Cleo Barry was “peacefully situated” on a street near San Diego City College on Aug. 15, 2024, when Officer Rogelio Medina and three other officers approached him, a day after Medina had issued Barry a citation for unlawful camping, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California on Sept. 19 and obtained by Atlanta Black Star.

Barry defensively warned Medina not to touch him, the lawsuit says, because a year earlier, during a prior arrest for unlawful camping, Medina had attacked him and broken his shoulder.

“I’m not done with you,” Med

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