State charges ex-police officer with civil rights violations in attack on black supervisor

The New Hampshire attorney general’s office has filed a civil rights complaint against a former police officer who assaulted a black bank manager in downtown Portsmouth last year.

In a civil complaint filed Tuesday in Rockingham County Superior Court, attorneys for the agency’s civil rights division allege that Aaron Goodwin, who was fired from the Portsmouth police in 2015, assaulted Mamadou Dembele outside Gilley’s restaurant last November because of his racial affiliation.

The complaint also accuses two of Goodwin’s family members — his brother Kevin Goodwin and sister-in-law Shannon Goodwin, who came from Maryland — of violating their civil rights by using physical force against a second unidentified black man who tried to intervene.

“The evidence indicates that (the Goodwins’) conduct was racially and/or ethnically motivated,” the complaint states.

Community leaders rallied around Dembele and called for justice after going public with the attack late last year, saying he was targeted because of his race.

The complaint states that Dembele was picking up food from the cafe the night before Thanksgiving when the Goodwins, whom he did not know, began to abuse him. At one point, according to the complaint, Kevin Goodwin allegedly mocked Dembele’s answer to a question about where he was from and suggested he smoked marijuana because he was black.

During a second altercation in the parking lot shortly after, Shannon Goodwin began yelling at Dembele and calling him the “n” word, according to the complaint. The complaint alleges that Aaron Goodwin threw Dembele to the ground without any provocation.

The complaint says Shannon Goodwin also directed racial slurs at two youths — one black, the other Asian — who entered the parking lot. The state alleges that Kevin Goodwin shoved a black man in the upper body as he tried to help Dembele, and Shannon Goodwin punched him in the face and chest.

The attorney general’s office filed four counts of violations of the New Hampshire Civil Rights Act: one count each against Aaron and Kevin Goodwin and two counts against Shannon Goodwin. He is seeking a fine of $5,000 on each count, as well as an order barring the Goodwins from further contact with Dembele and barring them from any future civil rights violations.

“Race-based crimes affect society, not just the individual targeted,” Robin Malone, Dembele’s lawyer, said in a statement. “Mamadu is grateful to the state for deciding to call the Goodwins’ behavior for what it is and hold them accountable.”

Another of Dembel’s lawyers, Michael Lewis, called on two young men who tried to help during the incident to come forward to help the government’s investigation. They refused to give their names to police because they didn’t want to get involved, according to the complaint.

Last month, Aaron Goodwin pleaded guilty to simple assault and received a suspended prison sentence. His lawyer, John Durkin, denied that his actions were racially motivated and said that Goodwin acted out of the belief that he was protecting his family members.

“There is no evidence to suggest that this meeting involving Aaron Goodwin was in any way racially motivated,” Durkin said Tuesday.

However, the Attorney General’s Office notes in its complaint that courts have “repeatedly” held that defendants who speak out in support of people who engage in racial harassment can be prosecuted even if they themselves do not make overt statements about race.

“The attack on (Dembele) occurred at a time when members of the defendant A. Goodwin’s family were racially abusing (Dembele)” and was “not otherwise provoked,” the complaint states.

In August, Kevin Goodwin pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. An attorney representing him in the case did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Shannon Goodwin, who also faces criminal charges in connection with the attack, has yet to turn herself in. A message left at a cellphone number associated with her was not immediately returned Tuesday.

Separately, Dembele is suing Aaron Goodwin in federal court for assault and battery. His lawsuit says he is still dealing with lingering physical and psychological injuries, including symptoms from the concussion he suffered and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Goodwin was fired from the Portsmouth Police Department after allegations he improperly influenced an elderly woman with dementia who left him a $2 million inheritance.