LYNN — The Essex County District Attorney’s office has dropped the charges against three Black men who said they were unlawfully arrested by Lynn Police last month. 

And an independent investigation into one officer involved in the incident is underway, according to a statement from the DA’s office. 

“After a review of all the facts and circumstances, the office of District Attorney (Jonathan) Blodgett has elected its discretion to discontinue the prosecutions of Victor White, Alexandros Armand and Scott Reed in Lynn District Court,” said Carrie Kimball, a DA spokesperson. 

Kimball said the Lynn Police conducted an internal affairs investigation surrounding the arrests and detention of White, 32, Armand, 26, and Reed, 55. Those materials have been forwarded to a special assistant district attorney appointed by Blodgett to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest, she said. 

“Daniel Bennett, former Secretary of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security will conduct an independent investigation to determine whether any criminal charges (against one officer) are appropriate,” said Kimball. 

Lynn Police Lt. Michael Kmiec, a department spokesman, said “the department respects the DA’s decision in the matter,” but declined further comment, referring The Item to their initial statement on the incident that was released last month. 

One officer resigned after the Lynn Police Department launched its internal investigation. The department declined to release the name of the officer, Matthew Coppinger, who was identified in a Boston Globe report.  

Police reports obtained from Lynn District Court identified the arresting officers as John Michael Clem III, Freddy Demota, and Michael Chalmers. White identified Coppinger as the officer who used force against him in a cell block following his arrest. 

The arrests of White, Armand and Reed on June 15 immediately proved to be controversial. White said he was sitting outside on his Brightwood Terrace porch and drinking with his co-worker, Armand, and neighbor, Reed, when they were arrested by Lynn Police. 

The incident sparked a protest that drew hundreds of people at the Lynn Commons after the three men said they were “unlawfully arrested, assaulted and falsely charged” by Lynn Police. The purpose of the protest was to push for the charges to be dropped. 

White said he heard through his lawyer that the charges against him had been dropped on Thursday. 

“It’s a sign of relief, but I don’t feel like that’s really what we were trying to accomplish,” said White. “We still want the officers involved held accountable for what they did. My civil rights were violated.”  

White said there is another protest centered around their arrests that is tentatively scheduled for Aug. 7. As the charges have been dropped, he said the demonstration will instead be focused on efforts to “hold the police accountable and have reform for police.” 

White alleges that Coppinger threw him to the ground and beat him with closed fists in his cellblock. He denies the narrative in the police report, which says that force was used against him after he refused to take off his face mask, saying that he had already taken it off for a mugshot. 

According to last month’s statement from Lynn Police, one of the men remained uncooperative during the booking process, which resulted in a use of force in the cellblock. 

Attempts to reach Coppinger were unsuccessful. 

In his written report of the incident, Coppinger described White as uncooperative and resistant to requests to remove his shoes, socks and face mask in the cell block.

When he refused to take off his socks and shoes, Coppinger said in his report that White was informed that if he did not comply with their requests, officers would take them off by force. He said White eventually complied, but refused to remove his face mask, which is not allowed inside a cell. 

“We gave him one final chance and told him it would be removed from him by us if he did not do so,” Coppinger wrote. “I then moved towards White to remove his mask from around his neck. When I reached for it, White grabbed my wrist, pushed me away and continued to hold onto my forearm with a firm grip.

“Officer Demota and I grabbed White and guided him onto the floor of the cell, to stop his violent behavior and place ourselves into a position of advantage.”

Coppinger said he and Demota were eventually able to remove his face mask and lock his cell door before White could get back up off the floor and “continue his attack.” 

In a statement last month, Lynn Police said officers responded to Brightwood Terrace shortly after midnight on June 15 after receiving a complaint regarding a loud group that was drinking and smoking marijuana at the address. 

When officers responded to the area, they found three men drinking alcohol in public and noticed several empty alcohol containers around the individuals. When responding officers told the men that it was illegal to drink in public, they became argumentative, police said. 

After one man began to swear at officers and refused to cooperate, the officers made the decision to place them under arrest for violating the city ordinance pertaining to drinking in public. Two of the men resisted arrest at the scene, but were taken into custody, police said. 

White said he expected the charges to be dropped in lieu of their subsequent protests. 

“I feel like this is a sign that people need to speak up when they’re being mistreated and don’t be quiet about it,” said White. “Our voices are power.”