"I can't breathe! In the United States, the last words ("I can't breathe") of George Floyd, but also of Eric Garner, have become the rallying cry of protesters who denounce police violence and the numerous deaths by asphyxiation of African-Americans during their arrest. In a particularly tense climate, the police of Oklahoma City released on Wednesday the video of the arrest of Derrick Scott, in May 2019, who died when he arrived at the hospital. After the images were released, the victim's family called for an investigation, after police estimated last year that the officers were not at fault.
Police responded after a man "waving a gun" was reported in a parking lot. Arrested by the agents, Derrick Scott runs away. He is caught by a policeman who places him flat on the ground on his stomach. Two officers then attempt to subdue the suspect and find a pistol in his pants. They don't use a choke plug but you can see a knee between his shoulders. According to the city police, this is a "standard" maneuver.
"Treated like an animal"
"I can't breathe," pleads Scott. "I don't care," replied one of the police. "He pretends to be unconscious," added his colleague. According to the sheriff, the police immediately called first aid and then put the man in the survival position. He regains consciousness and then, while the paramedics try to get him on the stretcher, Scott tries to kick them. In the ambulance, he lost consciousness again. Rescuers try to revive him but he dies in hospital.
On the autopsy report, the medical examiner lists as "probable cause" a "traumatic pneumothorax". Among the factors that may have played a role: immobilization, heart disease and recent consumption of methamphetamine.
Thursday evening, the prosecutor's office had not reacted. In an interview with local KOCO 5, the victim's mother, Vickey Scott, accused the police of treating her son "like an animal". The civil rights association NAACP, for its part, called for "an end to the lethal maneuvers of the police".
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VIDEO. Death of George Floyd: "We are tired of being killed" ... In the United States, rage does not fall
- United States
- Police violence
- George Floyd
- World