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2 New Orleans cops fired after allegedly beating Hispanic man, calling him ‘fake American’

Sept. 4, 2010 file photo of a New Orleans Police Department cruiser on the Danziger Bridge in New Orleans.
Sept. 4, 2010 file photo of a New Orleans Police Department cruiser on the Danziger Bridge in New Orleans. Julie Dermansky/Corbis via Getty Images

NEW ORLEANS – Two white New Orleans police officers have been fired after they were accused of beating a Hispanic man who they allegedly called a “fake American.”

News outlets report that 24-year-old Spencer Sutton and 26-year-old John Galman pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of simple battery.

Authorities say the rookie officers were off-duty when they attacked Jorge Gomez outside a bar early Tuesday. Gomez’s face was badly bruised and his forehead required stitches.

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Gomez, who says he was born in the U.S. and grew up in Honduras, told reporters that the officers were angry that he was wearing a military camouflage-style outfit.

He says they called him a “fake American” and beat him after he said he’d served in the military.

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Sutton’s attorney Jake Lemmon said his client and Galman, “maintain their innocence.”

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