In the conversations surrounding the beating of a black man by a former Asheville police officer -- a critical voice has been missing. The victim himself.
That was until just a few weeks ago, when Johnnie Rush appeared on an online talk show. He detailed the night ex officer Chris Hickman beat him up after walking across the street.
BPR’s Cass Herrington sat down with Aisha Adams, the executive producer and co-host of that program, the Asheville View to hear her takeaways.
On Mon. during All Things Considered, we’ll bring you the voices of other leaders in Asheville’s African American community and their reactions to the restorative justice settlement with former Asheville police officer Chris Hickman. He has been charged with assaulting Johnnie Rush, a black man, for jaywalking. Hickman plead guilty and was convicted of felony assault by strangulation, misdemeanor assault by strangulation, and misdemeanor communicating threats.