El Paso Police Violence Pattern

Okay, I don’t know about you but I can’t stomach the video of the woman that was punched in the face while she was held down by a police officer in El Paso. 

And before you guys start acting like this is an anti-cop rant, its not. 

Its an anti-cop violence rant. 

The woman was on the ground with two cops on top of her. Was she struggling against the cops  absolutely. Does that warrant her getting punched in the face out of nowhere?

Absolutely not. 

And quite frankly - its time the Mayor and Council step-up and take responsibility for this kind of stuff. 

The woman was autistic, and I have no idea where she is on that spectrum, but she clearly is wired differently.

Did you see the picture of her face after she got hit by the cop?

Here’s the damage after one punch. 

Now look at the picture of Freddy Khlayel-Avalos, a former EPISD School Board Member after his interaction with PD. I wonder exactly how many blows he took for his face to look like that?

But even if she wasn’t autistic, its still out of line and good cops hate this kind of shit more than civilians do because it stains everyone’s uniform every time this kind of thing happens. 

And it has been happening in El Paso a lot!

This isn’t a one-time thing. In addition to the Officer Tavera incident, here’s the pattern - all of which is public record:

Officer Najera - November 28, 2024

Punched handcuffed man five times in the head. Man was barefoot with fractured ankle. Disclosed psychiatric medication to hospital - ignored. Wheelchair denied (staff said he “looked fine”). Charged with resisting arrest - DISMISSED by Judge Linda Perez. IA cleared officers without interviewing the victim. Najera resigned July 2025. Federal civil rights lawsuit pending: Khlayel v. City of El Paso, Case No. 3:25-cv-00705-KC (W.D. Tex.). City denied the claim 8-0. See my post on March 23.

Officer McCalop - September 6, 2025

Punched and kicked man on Mesa Street. Three closed-fist strikes. Had FOUR prior misconduct complaints including force, striking, tasing, and slamming. Also involved in a police shooting in February 2025. Victim charged with resisting arrest. Viral video. IA “investigating.”

Xavier Hernandez - July 13, 2025

Mental health crisis on I-10. 

Unarmed. 

On his knees. 

Tased multiple times. Officers kneeled on his back for nearly ten minutes. 

Died of asphyxiation. 

Medical examiner ruled it HOMICIDE. Federal lawsuit filed January 2026. EPPD released this man’s BWC footage, in an incident that involves a death - but is REFUSING to release BWC from the Khlayel arrest.

Jonathan Rose Eddens - April 14, 2024

Walking in traffic. Tased multiple times. 

Died in custody at hospital. 

BWC released.

Michael Charles Thompson - 2022

Veteran. 

Mental health crisis. 

Beaten, choked, tased five times. 

Not committing any crime. Died in custody. Family sued the City. Attorney called it “one of the most utterly gross displays of medical indifference.”

Teen on Blue Dirt - February 2023

Officer banged teenager’s head against patrol car multiple times, then punched him in the head. Viral video - also posted by FitFam.

Daniel Ramirez - June 2015

Mental health crisis. Suicide attempt. Tased while posing no threat. 

Died. 

Federal judge found City policies were “the moving force” behind the excessive force. City settled for $600,000 in June 2023.

Erik Salas Sanchez - April 2015

Shot multiple times inside his mother’s house. 

Federal judge found death “may be traced to poor training.” City settled for $1.2 million in March 2022.

Those are just the incidents in the last decade. 

The Mayor and Council need to start taking this problem seriously. 

Actually, lets just start with acknowledging that there is a problem in the first place. 

That’s nine incidents in the same department. A pattern of conduct with some bad officers - closed-fist strikes to restrained people, disabilities ignored - but everyone got a resisting arrest charged for their troubles. IA clearing or “reviewing” without accountability. 

Two people dead. 

Two federal settlements totaling $1.8 million. At least two more federal lawsuits currently pending. Taxpayers spent $1.7 million just defending four deadly force cases as of 2020.

Here’s the thing that makes this more than a list of bad incidents: federal judges have already said, in writing, that El Paso has a problem - not one judge, three. In Salas-Sanchez, Judge Philip Martinez’s 132-page ruling found former Chief Greg Allen “deliberately indifferent” to training needs. In Ramirez, Judge David Guaderrama found the City’s training policy inadequate - that’s the case the City settled for $600,000. And in Barnes v. City of El Paso, a third federal judge in the same district denied the City’s motion to dismiss the Monell pattern-and-practice claim brought by a handcuffed woman whose nose was broken by an EPPD officer. Three rulings, same conclusion. This isn’t a plaintiff’s theory - it’s federal court record, three times over. And City Attorney Karla Nieman has read every one of them. She personally issued the statement announcing the $1.2 million Salas-Sanchez settlement in March 2022. When the Tavera video dropped, I doubt anyone in that building was surprised. They were probably just hoping nobody would notice the pattern.

The Tavera video isn’t a new problem. It’s proof that nothing has changed. The City knows this is a problem because of all the lawsuits, settlements, federal court findings, IA complaints, open records requests, ethics complaints, and a direct letter to the Mayor - and officers are still punching restrained people in the head in April 2026.

Back to the age-old question - who polices the police?