Trooper INDICTED by Feds | Massive Scandal Implicates Head of Kentucky State Police

Name: Trooper INDICTED by Feds | Massive Scandal Implicates Head of Kentucky State Police
Uploaded: 2025-11-01T16:33:39-07:00
Duration: 24 min 45 s
Channel: The Civil Rights Lawyer
Description: Kentucky State Police Trooper James Cameron Wright was federally indicted for excessive force and perjury, revealing a systemic cover-up within KSP…

The Civil Rights Lawyer

00:24:45 Summary & quotes Report Issue

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About this episode Kentucky State Police Trooper James Cameron Wright was federally indicted for excessive force and perjury, rev… AI summary

Kentucky State Police Trooper James Cameron Wright was federally indicted for excessive force and perjury, revealing a systemic cover-up within KSP leadership that included KSP Commissioner Philip Bernett signing off on justified force in prior incidents. Despite Wright's history of misconduct and lying under oath, he was awarded Trooper of the Year and remained on paid leave during criminal proceedings, highlighting a deliberate institutional failure to track and punish pattern-and-practice abuse.

Key takeaways 5

Systemic Cover-Up at Highest Levels: KSP Commissioner Philip Bernett personally signed off on Response to Resistance (RR) reports for prior incidents involving Wright (Halcom and Davis), certifying unlawful force as justified, despite federal grand juries later finding probable cause for criminal charges.
Perjury with No Consequences: In the Alex Hornback case, Wright lied under oath denying he struck the suspect, a fact proven by basement camera footage. While his partner Zarski was fired and convicted of perjury, Wright faced no disciplinary action and was instead named Trooper of the Year.
Deliberate Obstruction of Accountability: KSP spent over $100,000 on IA Pro software to track use-of-force incidents but deliberately chose not to implement it to prevent the creation of a trackable pattern-and-practice record of misconduct.
Investigator Conflict of Interest: Sergeant Jeremy Mabe, who investigated Wright's use-of-force incidents, was himself the subject of multiple lawsuits for excessive force and false arrest (including Turner v. Mabe in 2020), yet remained in charge of internal investigations.
Federal Intervention Required: The case required involvement from the Department of Justice's Criminal Division and Civil Rights Division in Washington D.C., indicating that local Kentucky prosecutors and KSP internal affairs were unable or unwilling to address the severity of the misconduct.

Notable quotes 4 AI-generated: wording and quote attribution may be wrong. Use the play link to verify.

“The cover up goes all the way up to the current KSP commissioner. Even with full knowledge of Wright's propensity to commit unlawful violence and that he had lied about it under oath, instead of firing him, they gave him an award, trooper of the year.”

▶ 0:45 Host summarizing the systemic failure where leadership protected a known abusive officer rather than disciplining him.
“They spent more than $100,000 for IA Pro software... They decided not to do that because they don't want tracking within KSP of these use of force incidents to be able to demonstrate pattern and practice. This is I am making deliberate decision-m to cover up serious misconduct all the way to the top.”

▶ 21:07 Chris Wuest explaining how KSP leadership actively prevented the creation of data that would prove a pattern of abuse.
“Once you had him on the ground, did you strike or hit him with a closed fist at all? No, sir. He did not need to be struck with my hands or any impact weapon.”

▶ 0:24 Trooper Wright's sworn testimony during the Hornback deposition, which was proven false by video evidence, constituting perjury.
“He is being paid by the taxpayers to sit at home right now while his criminal charges are pending.”

▶ 22:33 Highlighting that Wright remained on paid leave despite federal indictment for excessive force and perjury.