Racist police violence: African-American man pushed to the ground and killed by seven police officers

Racist police violence

African-American man pushed to the ground and killed by seven police officers

The man was killed in a Virginia psychiatric clinic. The police officers and three employees of the clinic were charged with manslaughter.

publishedMar 17, 2023 at 3:33 am

Irvo Otieno died March 6 while admitted to a Virginia state mental health facility.

via REUTERS

• Almost three years after George Floyd’s death, another African American man was killed by police.

• It happened in a psychiatric hospital in the state of Virginia.

• He too was pinned to the ground, unable to breathe and died.

• In the case, the public prosecutor’s office has already accused the police officers and three employees of the clinic of manslaughter.

Seven police officers are said to be so brutal Irvo Otieno pressed to the ground have that he did not survive. According to his family, a video of the incident shows the “absolute brutality” of the officials. The relatives want the Justice Department to take action.

The family of an African American man who was brutally pushed to the ground and killed by police officers in the United States has called on the Justice Department to intervene in the case. The civil rights of 28-year-old Irvo Otieno had been violated, his family said at a press conference on Thursday. “What I saw was heartbreaking, America. It was disturbing. It was traumatic. My son was tortured,” said Otieno’s mother, Caroline Ouko.

Police violence recorded on video

Earlier, Otieno’s relatives saw a surveillance video showing the circumstances of the latest case of deadly police violence that has rocked the country. The video shows the handcuffed and shackled man being pushed to the ground by seven police officers in a psychiatric clinic. In the case, the public prosecutor’s office has already accused the police officers and three employees of the clinic of manslaughter.

The video shows the absolute brutality with which the police officers acted against 28-year-old Irvo Otieno, said the relatives and their lawyers at the subsequent press conference. It is shocking that nearly three years after the death of George Floyd in a police operation, another man died in almost the same way, being pushed to the ground by police for “twelve excruciating minutes,” said attorney Ben Crump, who also represented the Floyds family at the time.

Victim did not fight back

Otieno died on March 6 while being admitted to a Virginia state mental health facility. The video of his death has not yet been shown publicly, but according to the prosecutor and the family, Otieno did not defend himself. The Richmond Times-Dispatch newspaper reported that he was sitting in a chair and was dragged to the ground by officers. Another family attorney, Mark Krudys, said the seven officers from the Henrico County Sheriff’s Office used force to hold every part of his body to the ground.

Otieno has had a history of mental health issues and, according to his family, was in a mental health emergency when he was arrested on March 3. A neighbor called the police because Otieno wanted to take the lawn lights from a garden, lawyer Krudys said. According to the police, he then physically attacked several officers and was taken to the hospital.

Krudys said that even after Otieno stopped breathing, no one really came to his aid. You can only see on the video how people stand around with their hands in their pockets and look away.

(DPA/sys)