Photos: Phoenix Police Celebrate Shooting A Man In The Groin During Protest

A team of Phoenix Police officers celebrated shooting a man in the groin during a protest on August 22, 2017 with commemorative coins to sell and share, reported ABC 15.

Images obtained by ABC 15 show that the coins, deemed "challenge coins," have the image of a man being shot on the front, with the date of the protest on the back.

Along with the image are two phrases: "GOOD NIGHT LEFT NUT" and "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN ONE NUT AT A TIME."

To see photos of the coins, click here.

Records show that Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams was made aware of the challenge coins, but no officers were disciplined for them.

Jared Keenan, an attorney with ACLU Arizona told ABC 15, "They relish in the use of violence against these protesters. It sends a clear message that this is the appropriate way to act. It’s okay not only to use extreme violence against protesters, but to glorify it and relish in it."

The Phoenix Police Department still faces an ongoing class-action lawsuit that was filed by the ACLU Arizona and Puente.

According to a court motion filed by attorneys against the city, "On August 22, 2017, [Phoenix police] eviscerated the First and Fourth Amendment rights of hundreds of peaceful protesters when it grossly overreacted to a small group, who appeared to be moving a fence toward a fully armed phalanx of PPD officers standing at the ready."

The man that was shot, Joshua Cobin, said that he was running in to help a woman who was on the ground. As he ran in, he was shot in the back by an officer. Cobin told ABC 15, "My instincts kicked in to help her. As me and this other lady went in and ran with her, we got shot in the back by the same officer again as we were fleeing. And then when we got her to safety, that’s when I turned around."

Cobin said that because he was shot, he got frustrated and kicked over a tear gas canister. It was then that he was shot by a Phoenix Police Officer.

Cobin commented on the department's coins. He said, "Honestly, it’s pretty unprofessional that Phoenix police would commemorate that."

To read the full story, click here.

Photo: Getty Images