A former Mississippi police officer has pleaded guilty to a federal crime for allegedly forcing an arrestee to lick his own urine off a holding cell floor under threat of violence, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday.
According to the complaint, Michael Christian Green, a former patrolman with the City of Pearl Police Department, pleaded guilty to one federal misdemeanor count of deprivation of civil rights under color of law.
Green responded to a disturbance at a Sam’s Club on December 23, 2023, according to the complaint, and arrested a man. When the man was arrested, security footage from the holding cell showed him attempting to inform Green he needed to urinate, according to the federal prosecutor’s complaint. After not getting a response, the man urinated in a corner. When Green was later informed about the pee, he insisted that the arrestee lick it and threatened to strike him with a phone, according to the complaint.
According to the lawsuit, while standing in the holding cell doorway, Green ordered the man to get on the ground and “suck it up,” then “removed his phone from his duty vest and filmed” the victim, who obeyed.
CNN has contacted Green’s attorney for comment. Green has an initial appearance and a change of plea hearing scheduled for Thursday, according to court records.
Pearl, located just outside Jackson, is in Rankin County, Mississippi, which received national attention in 2023 after five former deputies and one former Richland police officer pleaded guilty to multiple federal and state charges in connection with “the torture and physical abuse” of two black men at a home in Braxton, according to the Justice Department last year. The guys are scheduled to appear in federal court next week for sentencing.
Some of the deputies were members of “The Goon Squad,” a gang of Rankin County Sheriff officers infamous for using excessive force and failing to report it, as CNN previously documented.
The City of Pearl discovered the event involving Green over the Christmas weekend and launched an internal investigation, according to a statement released on Thursday. Green was placed on administrative leave and resigned on December 27, Pearl Mayor Jake Windham announced at a Thursday news conference.
The city sent video of the incident to the FBI and engaged an attorney to investigate the police department’s regulations and procedures and provide training.
“We do things quickly around here. The mayor stated, “I believe there is a stark contrast between the Pearl Police Department and the Goon Squad in this incident.” “It portrays us in a terrible manner. I’m not fleeing from that. I simply think there’s an obvious difference in how we’re managing it versus how it’s been handled nationally or locally. We have no tolerance for actions like these.”
“If you want to be a police officer, you have to do things properly. “You must adhere to the United States Constitution,” Windham stated. “And I feel very strongly about that, and I apologize to the family of this gentleman, who was exposed to just the type of negligent and horrible treatment from an officer of the law.”
Windham stated that Green had worked with the Pearl Police Department for about six months and had encountered “some personnel issues, but nothing like this.”
He is set to be sentenced on June 12 and faces a maximum penalty of 12 months in jail, according to a news release from the US Attorney’s Office.
