The Rancho Cordova police officer who was fired in 2020 for a use-of-force incident that went viral online has been reinstated, the officer’s attorney said.

Deputy Brian Fowell was terminated by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office — which has a contract to provide law enforcement for the city of Rancho Cordova — when a professional standards unit investigation concluded Fowell used excessive force against a 14-year-old boy.

The incident was captured in a cellphone video less than a minute long, posted in April 2020, and spread across social media, garnering millions of views, and was even retweeted by then-Sen. and vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris, who called it “a horrific abuse of power.”

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