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Comments on the San Ramon Police Department’s Facebook page saw a change of tone in recent weeks, with the usual positive and supportive responses to announcements from the department being replaced by harsher words following the resurfacing of discussions about a lawsuit that was settled in 2015.
SRPD Chief Denton Carlson sent a community message on Jan. 24 acknowledging the comments and seeking to provide their “backstory,” pointing to the resurrected footage of 2015 court proceedings in an excessive use of force case filed after a suspect taken into custody in a 2009 incident was released from Santa Rita Jail.
“Please know that from what we have seen, none of the comments posted appear to originate from members of the San Ramon Community,” Carlson wrote. “They come from different parts of the country, and the people writing them have no direct connection with the San Ramon Community or our organization.”
A majority of the influx of new social media comments refer or link to a video posted by the channel Lackluster Media on Jan. 22, which had 386,522 views as of Tuesday afternoon.
That’s significantly more traction than the 9,800 views the original video, posted to Youtube by the U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth District court, had received during its nine years on the website.
Dale Hiller, an attorney and creator of Lackluster Media LLC, told DanvilleSanRamon that he had posted the video out of a desire to emphasize critiques over common defenses from police departments in excessive use of force cases, specifically the doctrine of Qualified Immunity.
“The case shown in the video is a clear example of how the doctrine can be exploited,” Hiller said. “It showcases law enforcement officers who, despite overwhelming evidence of misconduct, still attempt to hide behind QI, supported by their equally corrupted legal teams.”
“I believe that by sharing stories like this, I can help educate the public and advocate for meaningful reform,” Hiller continued. “This isn’t just about this particular case — it’s about contributing to the broader conversation on police accountability and pushing for the eventual abolition of Qualified Immunity at the Federal level.”
Although the description of the video includes a note that police departments are forbidden from specifically blocking critics on Facebook, Hiller said that he “never instructed or encouraged” his followers to call police departments or “share their opinions on Facebook.” Nonetheless, he said he was supportive of their right to do so.
“While I do not endorse threats, have never issued any call to action, and do not support violence in any form, I do take pride in seeing the people of this nation exercise their right to speak out,” Hiller said. “Citizens should not live in fear of their government — in fact, it should be the government that is accountable to the people.”
The hearing in the video was an appeal of a 2011 complaint brought forward by Jordan Branscum alleging excessive use of force during a 2009 arrest when he was 19.
According to Carlson in his recent message, the arrest came following a 23-mile pursuit after an armed robbery in Alameda County that concluded in San Ramon. Although Branscum pleaded guilty to criminal charges following his arrest, the 2011 complaint for damages alleges that SRPD officers made false claims and reports about his behavior leading up to the event, including resisting arrest and failing to pull over when instructed to do so, in addition to using “excessive and unnecessary force.”
Body camera footage shown during the trial and ensuing appeal from SRPD shows Branscum exiting the vehicle – which he said was his father’s van – and lying face down on the pavement, with police flocking to him and one officer appearing to repeatedly slam his face on the concrete while pinning him to the ground. Branscum was hospitalized for his injuries following arrest.
The case was ultimately settled for $240,000, a sum that Carlson sought to emphasize did not come directly from San Ramon’s coffers, with the city and its police department being represented by the Municipal Pooling Authority for Northern California during the litigation. The MPA represents a total of 21 cities in Northern California and 17 in Contra Costa County, Carlson said.
“In simple terms, MPA provides legal representation and litigation/settlement insurance for these 21 cities (including San Ramon) during complex litigation and the negotiation of settlements that may avoid lengthy and costly court trials,” Carlson said.
“Once the MPA is involved in the legal representation or settlement negotiations surrounding a lawsuit, the City of San Ramon has limited influence on the outcome, and the same was true for this specific case,” he continued. “The City of San Ramon did not negotiate this settlement, which was $240,000, nor did the $240,000 settlement come directly out of the City’s General Fund.”
Carlson called the settlement a “financial-based business decision” by MPA to settle the case at a cost that they believed would be “far less expensive than fighting the trial in court.”
The settlement came following an appeal from legal counsel for the police department and city that sought to overturn a judge’s previous ruling that the officers in the case were not entitled to qualified immunity.
“The courtroom testimony shown in the YouTube video is the Attorney representing San Ramon in front of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which occurred six years after the incident.” Carlson said. “The specific topic of discussion between the legal counsel and the Appellate Judges surrounds the actions of one Officer and the legal standing behind the individual’s right to pursue litigation against the involved Officers for damages.”
For his part, Branscum told DanvilleSanRamon that while he had been aware of the video’s increased traction on Youtube, he knew nothing about its origins and “thought it was a bit strange,” given how much time had elapsed since the court proceedings.
Nonetheless, he said that the incident continues to be a formative one in the present day.
“This event has molded my life, and had such a great impact on myself, regardless of the number of years that it’s been in between,” Branscum said.
As of their most recent post Tuesday afternoon emphasizing bicycle and pedestrian safety on the Iron Horse trail, comments on SRPD’s Facebook account seemed to have returned to a supportive tone, with no critical comments on that post as of Tuesday evening.
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