Deputy’s Tattoo OKd as Civil Rights Suit Evidence

A federal judge in Los Angeles has ruled that a sheriff’s deputy’s tattoo may be raised as evidence in a civil rights lawsuit against him.

U.S. District Judge David Kenyon ruled that a description of the words “chango fighter” tattooed on Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Javier Clift’s ankle may be introduced in the lawsuit filed by Jesus Chavez.

“Chango” is a Spanish word for a monkey common to Mexico. But Chavez’s attorney says it is also a derogatory term deputies use in reference to Latinos and blacks who cause problems. Kenyon said the words in Clift’s tattoo “implies that he fights minorities.”

Chavez claims in his suit that his civil rights were violated when Clift hit him in the face and back with a baton while breaking up a party in Lynwood in 1985. Clift contends Chavez and several other suspected gang members attacked him.