"I can't breathe"... "I don't care."

[_Icarus]

Black Man Told Oklahoma Police ‘I Can’t Breathe’ Before He Died, Video Shows

A Black man in Oklahoma City died last year after stating repeatedly that he couldn’t breathe while being held in police custody, newly released body camera footage worn by the officers involved shows.

The Oklahoma City Police Department on Tuesday released footage of Derrick Ollie Scott’s arrest on May 20, 2019, to meet one of the demands issued last week by Black Lives Matter OKC amid nationwide anti-racism protests.

“I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. Please,” Scott, 41, can be heard telling the two officers who have him pinned to the ground in the video.

“I don’t care,” one of the officers responds.

Scott appears to be going in and out of consciousness several minutes into the video. Police called for an ambulance to transport him to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

An autopsy obtained by NBC News said Scott died of a collapsed lung. It reportedly listed several other “significant” factors that contributed to his death, including physical restraint, recent methamphetamine use, asthma, emphysema and heart disease.

The autopsy said the police response did not result in “fatal trauma,” but listed the manner of death ― such as natural, accident, suicide or homicide ― as “undetermined,” NBC News reported.

“The thing that bothered me in the video was how they treated his life,” Scott’s uncle, Ronald Scott, told local NBC affiliate KFOR-TV.

[_Dr Exiled]

Always get an independent autopsy as the state medical examiner is usually conflicted when it comes to the police.

[_ajax18]

“The thing that bothered me in the video was how they treated his life,” Scott’s uncle, Ronald Scott, told local NBC affiliate KFOR-TV.

If you're sick, wouldn't be a good idea to not to resist arrest and save your argument for the courtroom?

I'm just curious where you come down on a suspect who tries to flee the police in a high speed vehicle chase? Cause if I read you right, the death and injury of anyone injured in the chase is completely the responsibility and fault of the police for continuing the chase or perhaps the taxpayer for not paying enough and leaving the criminal with a need to steal. But no one should ever die, especially an African American person because they're fleeing or resisting arrest.

So now that we understand that blacks have no responsibility for the ramifications and collateral damage of resisting arrest, is it the same for whites as well? Are they responsible for people they might smash into while running a red light in an effort to flee law enforcement? Is it law enforcement's fault for not just letting them go?

[_Some Schmo]

“The thing that bothered me in the video was how they treated his life,” Scott’s uncle, Ronald Scott, told local NBC affiliate KFOR-TV.

If you're sick, wouldn't be a good idea to not to resist arrest and save your argument for the courtroom?

Yeah. Dead men make great witnesses.

Quit being a f-ucking jackass.

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

https://heavy.com/news/2020/06/derrick-scott-video/

Icarus,

What should’ve been done differently?

- Doc

[_Icarus]

https://heavy.com/news/2020/06/derrick-scott-video/

Icarus,

What should’ve been done differently?

- Doc

Well for starters, when someone says "I can't breathe," the preferred response is something other than "I don't care." I think cops who see detainees slip away like this should be required to perform CPR on them. That would sure as hell guarantee fewer incidents like this.

The news clip I saw showed the man's inhaler on the ground as he asked for his "medicine." Seems like if they had just picked it up and let him take a hit from it, he'd probably still be alive. In the video you can see the cop looking down right at it just inches away from his feet.

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

I agree!

edit: In a timely bit of synchronicity, a Reddit user posts this bit about the fallacious idea of, 'If you can talk you can breathe.'.

https://www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/ ... e/ftnrqyy/

tl;dr - It's worth the read, so read it.

- Doc

[_Some Schmo]

It's interesting that you should always comply and respect the police has become a racist dog-whistle. We know that compliance is in no way a sure ticket to safety for black men confronted by police, so what people are really saying here is black men are only dying because they keep trying to resist arrest.

Fuc-king racist bulls-hit.

[_Temp. Admin.]

Hi Some Schmo,

If you are unable to resist using foul language, please just type the word out regularly and let the word censor do its job.

Thank you.

[_Chap]

It's interesting that you should always comply and respect the police has become a racist dog-whistle. We know that compliance is in no way a sure ticket to safety for black men confronted by police, so what people are really saying here is black men are only dying because they keep trying to resist arrest.

Fuc-king racist bulls-hit.

I have been thinking a lot about this point over the last few hours, for reasons I may detail later. But consider this:

If you physically resist a police officer who is attempting to arrest and cuff you, you are most probably entering into a close-quarters struggle with a man who has an easily accessible firearm strapped to his side.

That man has no means of knowing what you intend, or may impulsively decide to do, if you succeed in physically overcoming him. In particular, he has to consider the non-zero possibility that you intend to seize his firearm and use it to kill or wound him, or others nearby. A police officer's struggle with a resisting arrestee thus inevitably takes on, for that officer, the character of a life or death struggle: he must win, or risk ending up dead.

Your risk of him shooting you during the struggle has thus become hugely greater than if you had simply complied with the arrest. And that risk is there even if the police officer with whom you are struggling is utterly devoid of any pre-existing wish to kill or wound you, or persons like you.

I can't see how encouraging people in general not to think it is wisest to comply quietly with police arrests is doing them any service.