Trigger Warning: Mentions details of abuse and assault.
Is justice served merely based on a lawsuit? Last year, Benjamin Jackson, a Black man from Paterson, New Jersey, claimed that in 2022, undercover city police officers unlawfully assaulted and abused him during an unexpected arrest. In his complaint filed in November 2024, Jackson says four plainclothes officers stopped him around 8 p.m. on November 6, 2024, after spotting him coming out of an SUV carrying a black fanny pack.
He claimed that when he slowed and touched his pack, some officers claimed he looked suspicious. They used those actions as justification to detain him without proper cause. Reportedly, one of the officers, named Muhammed Dombayci, who spotted Jackson, asserted that he looked uncomfortable when he saw the cops. It almost looked like Jackson was trying to conceal a weapon.
As per The Atlanta Black Star, despite Jackson’s statement that he had just undergone brain surgery and suffered from seizures, the officers allegedly used excessive force and assaulted him. They urged him to have his arms up against a glass window or threatened to arrest him.
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Officer Wisam Salameh threw Jackson to the ground, hit him, and removed his fanny pack. As Salameh walked away with Jackson’s bag, they found a loaded gun with five bullets. Later, Jackson said the officer grabbed his private part and quipped, “That’s for free, bro.”
None of the other officers intervened; instead, they reportedly laughed. Jackson was later handcuffed and left in a police car, during which he suffered a seizure. When the poor man was taken to a hospital, the doctors diagnosed him with an injury in the private part.
Officers Malek and Domenic DiCarlo still claimed that he had staged the seizure attack since they allegedly did not see any foam coming out of his mouth, as per the lawsuit. Meanwhile, Jackson was also charged and convicted for unlawful possession of a handgun found in a fanny pack and is currently serving a sentence.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Jamel K. Semper allowed parts of a lawsuit filed by Jackson. These include excessive force, assault and battery, and denial of medical care, which can move forward against the identified officers.
Beating and emasculating a Black man recovering from brain surgery—New Jersey cops somehow found a new low.https://t.co/tSJSNTwWnw
— Atlanta Black Star (@ATLBlackStar) October 8, 2025
His revised federal civil rights lawsuit names the City of Paterson, its police department, and 12 officers, accusing them of 13 violations of state and federal law. However, other claims, such as false imprisonment and racial discrimination, were dismissed due to insufficient evidence or improper legal arguments.
Claims of racial discrimination were rejected, with the court noting that the complaint included only casual mentions that lacked evidence directly linking the officers’ actions to strong racial bias. The lawsuit also said that the Paterson Police Department’s rules allowed misconduct and ignored a civilian’s rights.
However, Judge Semper dismissed all charges against the department itself because it is not legally separate from the City of Paterson, which is still being sued. Benjamin Jackson now has 30 days to submit an amended complaint, and discovery in the case is set to close on October 15, 2025.
