title:  White SC Cops Sexually Assault Black Couple During Traffic Stop (VIDEO)
text: A video published by The Washington Post shows white police officers from Aiken, South Carolina sexually assaulting a Black couple, after stopping their vehicle without cause.According to the Aiken police department, the obscene physical, mental and emotional abuse perpetrated on this couple by a group of white officers is an example of  justified  police behavior.As The Washington Post reports here, on Oct 2, 2014, Lakeya Hicks and Elijah Pontoon were pulled over by Aiken Department of Public Safety Officer Chris Medlin.Ms. Hicks had recently purchased the car, which had a temporary tag.Although her temporary tag was perfectly legal, Officer Medlin uses her  paper tag  as an excuse to pull the couple over.After she produces her license and registration, Medline proceeds to demand identification from Elijah Pontoon, who was riding in the passenger seat. He then orders Pontoon out of the car, patting him down next to the vehicle.A moment later, the video shows him ordering Hicks out of the car.Although the couple has committed no crime, Medlin calls for backup. As additional police officers begin to pour onto the scene, he tells Hicks that her car is going to conduct a canine drug search of the vehicle.He then turns to Pontoon and says,  You gonna pay for this one, boy. A few moments later, Medlin makes good on that threat.After a search of the couple s vehicle produces nothing, the cops then announce,  We gonna search somebody. Medlin tells a female officer to search Hicks  real good. A female officer then  searches  Ms. Hicks, in broad daylight on a public street.As The Washington Post reports: The personal search of Hicks is conducted off camera, but according to the complaint filed by Phillips, it allegedly involved exposing Hicks s breasts on the side of the road in a populated area. The complaint also alleges that this was all done in direct view of the three male officers. The search of Hicks again produces nothing.At this point, they turn their focus back to Pontoon.Medlin again orders the man to get out of the car. After placing him in handcuffs, he begins to pat him down. You ve got something here right between your legs. There s something hard right there between your legs,  he says.Medlin then states that he is going to put on some gloves.Medlin then begins what police are calling a  full cavity search  of the young man. Again, this  search  takes place in broad daylight, on a public street.While the officer s actions take place out of view of the camera, the audio leaves no room for doubt about what is going on.Medlin s statements over the course of the next several minutes indicate that his motive for this invasive roadside search had little to do with conducting any kind of legitimate or necessary search for illegal contraband.As The Washington Post reports: Pontoon at one point says that one of the officers is grabbing his hemorrhoids. Medlin appears to reply,  I ve had hemorrhoids, and they ain t that hard.  At about 12:47:15 in the video, the audio actually suggests that two officers may have inserted fingers into Pontoon s rectum, as one asks,  What are you talking about, right here?  The other replies,  Right straight up in there. Pontoon then again tells the officers that they re pushing on a hemorrhoid. One officer responds,  If that s a hemorrhoid, that s a hemorrhoid, all right? But that don t feel like no hemorrhoid to me. Although a legitimate cavity search takes no longer than a few brief seconds, these officers continue to probe Pontoon s anus for a full three minutes.Once they have finished violating and humiliating the couple, Medlin tells Pontoon,  Now I know you from before, when I worked dope. I seen ya. That s why I put a dog on the car. Pontoon replies that  that s been years and years ago. I ve got kids now,  he says.  That s my wife. The Washington Post reports that Pontoon does have criminal record, but his last arrest was ten years ago, in 2006.Even if he had been arrested last week, though, past behavior does not constitute  reasonable suspicion,  under any definition of the law.After all of this, Medlin tells the couple he is letting them off with a warning. He never specifies what they are being warned not to do. The only crime they have committed is driving while Black.According to The Washington Post Medlin is still employed by the Aikin Police Department.When contacted for comment, Aiken public information officer Capt. David Turno said in an email The City of Aiken denies the Plaintiffs  allegations and is vigorously defending this lawsuit.  We will have no further comment about the facts of this case during the pendency of this litigation. Watch the video below, courtesy of The Washington Post. Featured image via video screen capture via The Washington Post