The local NAACP is demanding that Americus Chief of Police James Green fire immediately Officer Michael Middleton before Middleton beat to death another innocent Black citizen in Americus as was with his beating death of Eddie Bridges. Officer Middleton, a veteran at the Americus Police Department, has a long history of seriously beating and abusing Blacks in this county. Apparently, his badge, which he has sworn to uphold, gives him that right to slaughter Blacks by beating them to death. Luckily, his latest victim, Natasha Robinson, an eighteen year old Black female, was not beaten to death but beaten seriously enough for an emergency room visit for multiple injuries inflicted by Middleton. She had head, neck and right shoulder injuries and will require physical therapy and an orthopedic physician consult.

The Police Department seems to have given Middleton a "green light" to inflict maximum force when Middleton encounters Black suspects. Or, Middleton-after all these years on the force-is still trying to ingratiate himself with the police power structure. Worse, Middleton should be a rogue cop that needs immediate anger management treatment on how to control his rage when he arrests or talks to Black suspects. Officer Middleton's brutal tactics while arresting Americus citizens must not be seen as a panacea to stop real or potential Black crime here in Americus, an NAACP official said.

Middleton's latest Black victim reported to the local NAACP that it was without provocation; Officer Middleton slammed her to the ground which resulted in her being taken to the emergency room for the slamming by Middleton. The incident happened after a fight which the victim was not involved in, she reports that Middleton slammed and arrested her.

The infamous 2007 beating and subsequent death of Eddie Bridges is a stark reminder to Blacks here in Americus of Officer Middleton's powerful blows he inflicts on his Black victims. Middleton beat Bridges so badly until Bridges' eye was knocked out of his socket. Bridges suffered with seizures. No punitive actions were ever taken against Officer Middleton for the wrongful and senseless death of Bridges. Police Chief James Green gave Middleton 30 days of administrative paid leave and only three days without pay for knocking Eddie Bridges eye out and the victim's subsequent death. Middleton's record is devoid of brutal beatings of Whites in Americus. But, in his investigation of the Eddie Bridges assault, Assistant Police Chief Johnny King reveals a pattern of abuse of Blacks. The investigation highlights that Officer Middleton has been involved in several other attacks on Blacks prior to the Bridges incident. The NAACP has received a call from Carmen Mansfield, former owner of Toro's Lounge, who states that Middleton roughed her up after a court proceeding. Also, Eddie Bryant, Jr., a bail bondsman in Sumter County, filed a complaint against Officer Middleton's abusive tactics..

A Black mother has charged Middleton with racism in the handling of an incident involving her White neighbor. The incident involved the mother's eleven year old child who was bitten by two dogs of her neighbor. The child required 54 stitches in one leg. Officers Middleton and Americus Police Major Richard McCorkle were the officers dispatched to the scene. The mother recounts that her neighbor came to her property to stop his own dog from attacking her son. The neighbor intentionally-alleged by the mother- brought along another dog of his and the second dog also bit the child. (The mother alleges that her neighbor wanted the dogs to bite her child to "chastise" her child for agitating the first dog.)

Although both dogs bit the eleven year old boy, Middleton had only one dog sent to the veterinarian. No record of an arrest of the White owner of the dogs was discovered.
The mother was unsuccessful in filing a complaint against the unprofessional way Middleton and McCorkle operated. She charged that both policemen displayed favoritism toward the White dog owner.
This dogs biting incident is not the first time Major Richard McCorkle has assisted Officer Middleton in making arrests or investigating incidents. McCorkle has been implicated in covering up and protecting Middleton's acts of misconduct for years-which we call Middleton's enabler and coconspirator- The NAACP reports that McCorkle wrote a favorable letter to the District Attorney, Cecilia Cooper, on behalf of Michael Middleton, which could have helped Middleton avoid indictment in the Bridges beating. President Wright points out that open records from the DA's office did not include Assistant Police Chief Johnny King's report of Middleton's misconduct before the bridges beating. Matt Wright, the NAACP President, says that it has been reported that Major McCorkle is assisting Officer Middleton in the recent brutal slamming of the eighteen year female, Natasha Robinson.

Blacks in Americus are reminded that Major McCorkle played a prominent role in assisting Officer Alfonso Ross's arrest of Craig Walker. Ross arrested former NAACP Vice President Walker for spanking his niece at his niece's mother's request, Walker's twin sister. The two policemen charged Walker with child cruelty in the first degree, sent him to jail, and later indicted him. No skin was broken in the spanking. Walker had been an outspoken critic of the operations of the police department. The NAACP learned later that Major McCorkle has been duplicitous in many discriminatory acts against Black citizens by covering up for his officer's wrongdoings. Major McCorkle has shown a pattern of covering up Officer Middleton's beatings of Blacks for years. The NAACP is asking Chief Green to investigate these cover ups and hold Major McCorkle accountable!

The former District Attorney (DA), Cecilia Cooper, refused to have a Grand Jury indict Middleton for the brutal beating death of Eddie Bridges. The NAACP's investigation shows that the former DA practiced "selective prosecution" in the non-handling of Officer Middleton's case. The investigation also reveals that racist discrimination practices are rampant throughout the police department.

Past stories of how both the Americus Police and the Fire Departments can systematically remove their Black employees, seemingly at their discretion for any dubious work related infractions; while Officer Middleton is still employed with an extended history of brutal beatings of Blacks. Take the case of Fireman Gerald Whitehead who the courts found innocent of charges that he inappropriately touched a White female at the fire department. The City of Americus refused to give Whitehead his job back. Nor did the City explain why Whitehead was not reinstated and didn't receive back pay for lost wages. In another case, Officer, Keisha Burdwell, a Black female police officer was terminated for extremely vague reasons even though she scored higher than all of her fellow officers on required tests. (Could Burdwell's high test score threaten positions at the department, we wondered out loud.) Our report simply asked why is it so easy to terminate Black employees who have less obvious misconduct than Officer Michael Middleton and their records only reveal one time occurrences while Middleton has a repeated pattern of misconduct. These two firings are still unanswered in spite of repeated requests for answers. Until these questions are answered, a cloud of racism will remain over both departments.

Eloise Paschal, Lorenzo Johnson, and Eddie Rhea Walker, the three Black City Council members, have not heeded the Black community's call for Michael Middleton's removal from the police department. They failed the Black community when Eddie Bridges was beaten to death by Office Middleton. And the likelihood of them taking a stand on Middleton's latest slamming of an eighteen old female by slamming her on the ground and sending her to the emergency room, seem slim. Perhaps Paschal, Johnson, and Walker are afraid of this rogue cop, Officer Middleton. To their credit, Councilpersons Paschal, Johnson and Walker attempted to have Gerald Whitehead reinstated with the fire department. They also tried stopped Officer Keisha Burdwell from being fired. The White members of City Council, and the fire and police chiefs, successfully fought against the rehiring of the two fired Blacks. Americus' White power structure failed to take corrective actions against a rogue, sadistic cop in their employ.

If Officer Michael Middleton continues working for the police department, Blacks in Americus are at a grave risk of being brutally beaten. Blacks are simply not safe when they are approached by Officer Middleton, however minor the encounters. The local NAACP wants the Black community to be aware of this danger. And the NAACP will continue to call for Officer Middleton's dismissal from the force along with the suspension of his police certificate. And the NAACP will not continue to let these vicious and unprovoked beatings of Officer Middleton go unabated if it means seeking help from the US Attorney General's office. The leaders in the City of Americus--Black and White-- must not continue employing this rogue cop for all the reasons noted above.