Fernando

Fernando Rodriguez

Fernando Rodriguez

24-year-old hispanic

In September 2019, officers of the police department from Henry County, Georgia, used excessive force in the arrest of a Fernando Octavio Rodriguez, 24-year-old Hispanic man, as a result the man died.

On September 21, 2019, Rodriguez was returning home after attending a music festival when he was approached by officers who arrived at a report of a naked man. As you can see in the video from the surveillance camera, the officer ordered Rodriguez to lie down on the ground about ten times, but the man ignored his commands and tried to leave. The disgruntled officer shot tased the man few times, causing him to fall to the ground. In the video, the officer can be heard threatening Rodriguez, trying to turn him over and handcuff him. After about six minutes he pinned him to the ground with his knees. Soon the police officer noticed that the man did not show signs of life. Even after he realized that Rodriguez was not breathing, he did not stop to provide assistance as he should have. Paramedics arrived at the scene and pronounced Rodriguez dead.

In May 2021, Rodriguez’s family filed a lawsuit against the Henry County Police Department, alleging that the officers violated Rodriguez’s constitutional rights by stunning him and pinning him to the ground when he did not resist or try to avoid arrest.