Inmate beaten by Cook Co. Jail guard files federal lawsuit

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Cook County sheriff's office was slapped with a federal excessive force lawsuit Thursday by an inmate who was beaten by a corrections officer.

The video shows Randall Brown being punched and kicked by Officer Branden Norise in July 2013.

Blake Horwitz, Brown's attorney, said that not only was his client assaulted, he was threatened by other officers if he tried to speak up.

"He just beat him and beat him and beat him, when there was absolutely no reason to. it's perfectly clear, it's simple to see that the office himself engaged in a criminal battery," Horwitz said.

Brown was in custody on a cocaine possession charge that was later dropped.

Sheriff Dart said he's tried to fire Norise, but the officer is protected by the union.