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Boston Cop Seen Boasting About Hitting Protesters Previously Accused of Sex Assault: Report

Sources cited by The Boston Globe identified the sergeant as a 23-year veteran who served a one-year unpaid suspension after assault allegations.

A Boston police sergeant who was seen in a viral video boasting about driving into protesters during the George Floyd protests was previously accused of sexual assault, according to The Boston Globe. Two sources cited by the Globe identified the sergeant as Clifton McHale, a 23-year veteran they say served a one-year unpaid suspension after being accused in 2005 of sexually assaulting an inebriated woman while he was in uniform. The Boston Police Department launched an investigation after the footage from the May 31 protest went viral and said a sergeant had been placed on leave, though it stopped short of identifying the man seen in the video. The video showed an officer apparently laughing about “hitting people with the car” during the protest. McHale is said to have come under scrutiny within the department in 2005 after the woman said she’d passed out in his unmarked police car and woken up to him assaulting her. He was never charged, however, due to “insufficient evidence,” and he claimed at the time that any relations he had with the woman were consensual.