BECKLEY – A high school girls basketball coach says he was injured when two West Virginia State Troopers providing protection for Gov. Jim Justice when he was shoved during an altercation at a game.
Gene Nabors filed his complaint February 2 in federal court against Senior Trooper Jordan Lee Tincher and Sergeant D.P. White.
“The force used on Gene Nabors by the West Virginia State Police is excessive, inexcusable, malicious, and actionable under the law,” attorney L. Dante diTrapano told The West Virginia Record. “All one has to do is watch the video to witness the sickening behavior by these troopers.
“Their subsequent lying in the official report and the commentary by Jim Justice paints an ugly picture of police misconduct and racial discrimination that won’t be tolerated.”
According to the complaint, Nabors was injured during a February 11, 2020, girls basketball game between Greenbrier East High School and Woodrow Wilson High School. Nabors is an assistant coach for Woodrow Wilson, and Justice is the head coach for Greenbrier East.
This is the same game that drew national media attention when Justice referred to the Woodrow Wilson girls basketball team as “a bunch of thugs.”
“Nabors, while in a defenseless position, was violently shoved by Sr. Trooper J.L. Tincher without cause and was injured as a result,” the complaint states. “Nabors was further injured by Sgt. D.P. White’s subsequent actions during Mr. Nabors’ unlawful arrest.”
Nabors says Tincher was assigned to Justice’s security detail for the game at Greenbrier East High School. Greenbrier East and Woodrow Wilson have a longstanding rivalry in all sports, and both girls basketball teams were among the state’s best in 2020.
The incident was captured on surveillance video.
Referees called a timeout in the fourth quarter of the game because of rough play by both teams, according to the complaint. Nabors, who is Black, went to the baseline of the court during the timeout to talk to Woodrow Wilson administrators about some Greenbrier East fans “yelling racial slurs and epithets at the Woodrow Wilson girls basketball players and coaching staff.”
While he was speaking to the Woodrow Wilson Principal Rocky Powell and Athletic Director J.T. Payne, two Greenbrier East fans interrupted the conversation and act aggressively “seeking to instigate a confrontation.”
The video shows Powell and Payne stepping between the Greenbrier East fans and Nabors. Then, Nabors’ adult son approaches the group when Tincher and another State Trooper do as well. Nabors ushers his son back to the stands while Tincher follows.
“The video then depicts plaintiff Nabors in a defenseless position with his hands and arms stretched wide standing and attempting to speak with defendant Tincher regarding his interaction with the Greenbrier East fans who had, only moments earlier, used racial slurs and epithets,” the complaint states. “The video next depicts defendant Tincher suddenly and violently, with no justification, assaulting plaintiff Nabors, causing him to fall backward, breaking his arm and causing injury to his back.”
After Nabors was handcuffed and escorted out of the gym, he says he spoke with Tincher and White and asked why he was being detained. He says White told him he had pushed Tincher. He then asked Tincher if he had pushed him. Tincher admitted Nabors had not touched him.
The game was called with Greenbrier East leading by six points.
Nabors was taken to the Lewisburg detachment of the WVSP where he was detained and later released.
Nabors was cited for obstructing an officer, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $500 fine and a year in prison. Two other people were cited and five Woodrow Wilson plays have since been suspended as a result of the incident.
After the incident, Woodrow Wilson’s head coach took his team off of the court. The game was later called with Greenbrier East leading 56-50.
During postgame comments, Justice lashed out at his opponents.
“I hate to say it any other way, but honest to God’s truth is the same thing happened over at Woodrow two different times out of the Woodrow players,” he said “They’re a bunch of thugs. The whole team left the bench, the coach is in a fight, they walked off the floor, they called the game.
“The game was over when they walked off the floor — it’s just as simple as that. They don’t know how to behave and at the end of the day, you got what you got.”
In a subsequent statement, Justice said no one should have taken his comments as racist. Many consider the term “thug” racist.
“My definition of a thug is clear — it means violence, bullying, and disorderly conduct," he said. “And we, as West Virginians, should have zero tolerance for this kind of behavior. Anyone that would accuse me of making a racial slur is totally absurd.
“I’m extremely proud that my coaches, my team, and myself were not involved in this incident in any way, shape, form, or fashion and I’m truly saddened that the Woodrow kids had to be subjected to this behavior.”
Three days after the game, Justice apologized for his comments.
“You know, if I could take it back, surely I would take it back because, you know, I never dreamed that it would bother anyone,” Justice said.
In a report filed April 7, 2020, Tincher wrote that Nabors grabbed Tincher’s arms and physically restrained him. Nabors says the video contradicts that claim.
Nabors says Tincher and White violated his Fourth and 14th Amendment rights to be free of unreasonable seizures and to due process of law. He also says they used excessive force on him and committed assault and battery.
Nabors says he has sustained past and future compensatory and general damages including medical bills, loss of income, severe emotional distress, mental anguish, embarrassment, humiliation, disfigurement and physical pain and suffering.
He seeks compensatory and general damages for his injuries, punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, attorney fees, court costs and other relief.
Nabors is being represented by diTrapano, Alex McLaughlin, Benjamin Adams and Sean Shriver of Calwell Luce diTrapano in Charleston and by Jesse Forbes of Forbes Law Offices in Charleston.
Nabors was a two-time all-state selection when he played for Woodrow Wilson in the 1990s. He played two years of college ball at Louisiana State before transferring to Robert Morris.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 5:22-cv-0005
