Month: August 2021

In April 2021, officers of the Houston, Texas Police Department shot and killed 46-year-old Marcelo Garcia, who suffers from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, during another mental health crisis. On that day, the woman called the police for help, as her husband began to behave differently than usual.

The assistant officer who arrived at the scene asked the department for help in the form of specialists for work with mentally ill people, but he was denied this, since all the employees were busy. According to the police, he met Garcia near the front door of his house. The man allegedly held a knife in his hands, and after he refused to put it on the ground on the order of the officer and began to move towards the police officer, the police officer tried to use a taser against Garcia. According to the police report, the use of a taser by a police officer against a man did not give the desired result, and the police officer was forced to use his service weapon. The officer shot Garcia several times, fatally wounding him.

He is survived by his wife and four children, who in April 2021 announced that they intended to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the city and the police department, accusing them of using excessive force.

In April 2020, less than 12 hours after his arrest, 54-year-old Anthony Hulon was found dead in his prison cell in Lansing, Michigan. The man was arrested for a misdemeanor and taken to a hospital for examination, from where he was transferred to prison a few hours later.

One of the policemen stated in his report that he used force to put Hulon in a wheelchair and take him to a patrol car. The man was ordered to kneel, but he did not obey, because, as the officers stated, he was “clearly and objectively in a state of delirium.” The police officers handcuffed him and pinned him to the ground, trying to put on a waist belt. After about 8 seconds, Hulon declared that he was losing consciousness and could not breathe. A few minutes later, the police found that the man was not breathing. They called a doctor, but it was already too late.

The relatives of Hulon filed a lawsuit against the city and the police department, which claims that within eight minutes after the prison staff realized that the man had no pulse, none of them tried to give him first aid. In April 2021, the state attorney General announced that no charges would be filed against the police officers involved in the death of Hulon, but the trial of the wrongful death claim is still ongoing.

In January 2017, 43-year-old Muhammad Muhaymin Jr. died after Phoenix, Arizona police officers tried to arrest him after an incident at a community center.

The police said that the 43-year-old man had been causing trouble at the community center for quite a long time, and, finally, the man allegedly tried to attack one of the employees. The police officers who arrived at the scene struggled with him for several minutes before they managed to knock him to the ground and arrest him. The footage from the surveillance camera shows Muhaymin lying on the ground face down, and several officers pressed on top of him, holding him down. He had a cardiac arrest, and a few minutes later he died. After an internal investigation, the police department justified the actions of four officers.

However, in May 2021, Muhaymin’s family stated that they did not agree with this decision and filed a lawsuit against the city and the police department, claiming that the police officers used excessive force, which led to his death. A petition demanding justice for the man has already gained more than 41 thousand signatures on the Internet.

In December 2019, 13-year-old Tamia Chappman from Cleveland, Ohio, died as a result of a police chase. According to the police department, on that day, police officers received a message that someone had stolen a woman’s car, threatening her with a gun.

The officers promptly responded to the message and began to pursue the criminals “in hot pursuit”. Despite the fact that, in accordance with the department’s policy, a police chase at high speed is prohibited in a residential area, as this may pose a danger to others, the officers continued to pursue the stolen car, periodically accelerating up to 120 kilometers per hour. At some point, the hijacker lost control and flew off the road, hitting 13-year-old Chappman, who was returning from school with her friends.

The girl died on the spot, and in March 2021, a lawsuit was filed against the city and the Cleveland Police Department, accusing them of negligence. The lawsuit notes that the girl’s friends who witnessed her death saw her dead body on the sidewalk, which became a serious emotional and psychological trauma for them.

In June 2020, the Kentucky National Guard, Louisville, fatally shot David McAtee, a 53-year-old African-American, while he was taking part in a protest against police violence caused by the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

The Louisville Police Department and the National Guard arrived in the area where the demonstrations were taking place to impose a curfew and disperse the crowd of people. Witnesses claim that soldiers and police, trying to enforce the curfew, drove the crowd into a dead end, thereby causing panic, as a result of which people scattered in different directions. According to officials, someone started shooting at the police officers, and they were forced to return fire. A bullet fired by a National Guard soldier hit McAtee in the chest, killing him on the spot.

The officers ‘ body cameras were turned off at the time of the shooting, which is a violation of department policy. In May 2021, the prosecutor announced that no state charges would be filed in connection with the man’s death, but the McAtee family said that they intended to continue fighting for justice in court.