First of all, we don’t know what killed this guy.
His treatment though was inexcusable.
LEOs say “if you’re talkin’, you’re breathin’”.
This is TRUE! If you “really” can’t breathe, you wouldn’t waste your breath complaining about it. Perps regularly CLAIM they can’t breathe, when they clearly can.
Early on in the video, the man is complaining about not being able to breathe while BREATHING! He talks several times in sentences showing me that he CAN breathe.
After several minutes, the man does stop talking and moving. This may have NOTHING to do with the officer’s knee on the guys neck. (Likely standard approved procedure).
Having said all that....
WHY did the officer CONTINUE to hold the perp down with his knee for such a long time? The guy was not at this point resisting.
As the bystanders (rightly) kept saying to “let him up”, “put him in the car”, etc. WHY DIDN’T they?
What possible reason at that point could there be for continuing to hold him down.
It very well may turn out that this guy died of a drug overdose and not from suffocation, but REGARDLESS once the man appeared to have become unconscious, emergency medical aid should have been administered by the officers on scene.
WHY DIDN’T THEY LET HIM UP?
This was plain and simple murder.
Tell you what. Let a 225-lb guy kneel on your neck for 6-7 minutes without a break. Wanna guarantee nothing will happen?