Source: BrianAJackson/Getty Images
INDIANAPOLIS — Two Indy Metro Police officers facing charges for crimes from May of 2020 have each been found “not guilty” of four of the charges facing them.
A jury recently determined that Jonathan Horlock and Nathaniel Schauwecker are not guilty of *some* counts of battery and official misconduct. IMPD had previously concluded that the officers had behaved appropriately.
Action on the remaining charges will be decided next year.
The officers were first investigated by the department during the Black Lives Matter movement, when they joined other law enforcement officials in trying to get protestors to leave the downtown area after curfew.
Police say Ivore Westfield and Rachel Harding did not behave as instructed, so they were eventually pushed and/or hit with pepper balls and batons. Both were later arrested.
Westfield was asked to testify in this case, but she did not respond to requests from the prosecution or the defense.
The Black Lives Matter movement first gained notoriety in 2020, following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Original Charges Facing Horlock:
- Battery Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury
- Battery Resulting in Moderate Bodily Injury
- Battery Resulting in Bodily Injury
- Perjury
- Obstruction of Justice
- Official Misconduct
Original Charges Facing Schauwecker:
- Battery by Means of a Deadly Weapon
- Battery Resulting in Moderate Bodily Injury
- Battery Resulting in Bodily Injury
- Battery Resulting in Bodily Injury
- Official Misconduct
- Official Misconduct
