Former Police Oversight Board Executive Director Suing

(Providence, RI) -- The former head of the Providence External Review Authority, the civilian police oversight board, is filing a lawsuit. José Batista was fired from his executive director job after releasing video footage of an assault by Providence Police Sergeant Joseph Hanley last year. Hanley was convicted on the assault charge this month, stemming from an arrest made in the capital city in 2020. Batista defended his decision to release the video at the time, and he now says his freedom-of-speech rights were denied.

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