CAMDEN COUNTY, Ga. – The Camden County National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is calling for the firing of a Camden County, Georgia, sheriff’s deputy after a video showed her throwing a woman to the ground during a traffic stop.
The incident happened in January, but NAACP said it obtained the video this week after they received a tip.
The video shared with News4JAX shows a woman, Charis Faria, getting handcuffed, punched in the face, thrown to the ground, then shoved into the front of a patrol car after a traffic stop.
The deputy in the video has been identified as Christi Newman. The NAACP told News4JAX this is not the first time they feel she’s used unnecessary force and want her fired.
Following the traffic stop, the department gave Deputy Christi Newman a warning saying she violated the department’s use of force policy, and that the woman posed no immediate threat.
While News4JAX waits on the sheriff’s office to send us the report directly – the NAACP said there isn’t much that warrants this behavior from a deputy.
Georgia residents spoke with News4JAX and said what the deputy did was uncalled for.
“Well, I think that was a little bit of overkill,” Nelda Cummings, a Georgia resident, said. “I wouldn’t want to be stopped by that person or anything. It was just too much, too rough.”
Deputies said Faria failed to stop at an intersection – which is why Deputy Newman pulled her over and ran her license. That’s when Newman noticed that she had a non-judgment suspension — but dispatch didn’t know what it was for.
A report stated the deputy told Faria about the suspension and said she couldn’t drive. When she asked her to step out of the truck, Faria refused.
According to the report, It says Faria was “non-compliant, at some point I got the door unlocked and attempted to get her out of the car.”
From the angle of the video, it’s hard to tell what happened inside the truck, or why the woman wouldn’t get out. But what you do see is the deputy struggling. She mounts herself on the truck to pull the woman out. Once she got her – she ends up on the ground.
Newman’s report says the woman was resisting her – holding on to the steering wheel while shoving and yanking her. Another deputy arrived and tried to tase the woman from the other side – but it didn’t work.
In the report, Newman said she was actively resisting while out of the truck. In the video, Deputy Newman gets her in handcuffs – pulls her up by her arms, lets her go then steps over her – while pointing down at her, then the deputy walks away, and the woman stands up.
Newman’s report said she tried to help her up, but Faria pushed her away. In the video, you can see once she’s up – the two deputies face Faria, then Newman grabs her by the arm, tugs on her shoulder, hits her twice in the face, pulls her by her hair, and pushes her head into the front of the patrol car.
The deputy’s narrative said, “in my attempt to control the situation, she ended up being hit in the face and then forcefully put on the bumper of my patrol vehicle.”
Camden County NAACP President Timothy Bessent Sr. said this was excessive force, especially with the woman being in handcuffs.
“This is a violation of public trust and we want to see Deputy Newman off the streets,” Bessent said. “We believe that she needs to be terminated and we go as far as saying she should be terminated because she did assault this individual during this traffic stop.”
Newman was given a warning in January, and according to the department’s Facebook page, she was named “Deputy of the Month” just two months later.
News4JAX received a statement from Faria that reads, “I’m working through the traumatizing experience one day at a time. Being a child of a law enforcement officer for my entire life, I never expected to be placed in this situation…” It goes on to say " my ultimate goal after this is to push for better training and to remove officers that clearly pose a huge threat to society the first time, and not wait until it’s too late and someone’s life was placed in the hands of an out of control law enforcement officer.”
News4JAX reached out to the Camden County Sheriff’s Office for the arrest report, the personnel file on Newman, and comment on what the department is doing next. We’re told our request is being processed.