A Black man in Alabama has died after spending a week at the hospital following a brutal arrest involving at least five police officers.
John Scott Jr., 41, was reportedly punched and tasered on April 15 while the officers tried to put his hands behind his back.
Scott’s mother had called 911 twice to report that her son was suffering a mental health crisis after stopping to take his medication.
At one point during the arrest, the man complained that he couldn’t breathe as an officer knelt on his back while he was on the ground.
About an hour after arriving at the county jail, Scott started “exhibiting signs of medical distress,” and he was taken to the hospital, where he died Tuesday.
Police Chief Nadis Carlisle said the state and the FBI will be investigating the incident, which was caught on body-camera video.
“Here we go again. We stated that this was going to happen again, based on what happened when Steve Perkins died,” said Rodney Gordon, the local NAACP chapter president, referring to the fatal shooting of another Black man in his own front yard by a White officer.
“How can you not change the officers and expect different results?”
