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.
Warning: The video below includes footage of Scott’s arrest. It may be disturbing to some viewers.
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.
The incident unfolded after a bystander called 911 on May 20 to say a man had pulled a gun on someone in a parking lot.
After arriving at the scene, body camera video shows an officer named Jarred Tipton asking Scott if he has any weapons on him. Scott says no. After Tipton asks him to turn around, Scott can be seen running away.
Tipton and a female officer can be seen chasing Scott, before Tipton quickly tackles him to the ground. The two officers shout at Scott to cooperate as they try to handcuff him.
“I’m gonna tase you!” the female officer shouts. “Give me your hand!”
“I can’t breathe!” Scott says repeatedly. “I can’t breathe! Please!”
“I don’t care,” Tipton responds at one point.
A third officer arrives at the scene and helps search Scott, who appears unresponsive. Officers can be seen pulling a handgun from Scott’s pocket.
During the interaction, officers can be heard saying Scott is pretending to be unconscious and that he’s “fine.”
Police called an ambulance after Scott appeared to be in medical distress, according to a statement from the Oklahoma City Police Department. Video shows Scott appearing to go in and out of consciousness after medics arrive at the scene.
At one point in the video, Scott can be heard asking for what appears to be an inhaler on the ground next to him.
“I need my medicine, I need my medicine,” Scott says.
Scott became unresponsive after being loaded into the ambulance, according to the police department. One of the officers performed CPR on Scott, but he was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office cleared the officers involved ― Tipton, Ashley Copeland and Jennifer Titus ― of any wrongdoing last year.
Police say the officers were following department policy.
“I don’t know that there’s any more that they could have done to monitor the suspect or do everything they could to ensure his health,” Oklahoma City Police Department Capt. Larry Withrow told KFOR-TV.
He attributed Tipton’s “I don’t care” comment to “the heat of a conflict like that.”
“Certainly that may be something an officer says,” Withrow told KFOR-TV. “Just understand the officers are fighting with someone at that point.”
But local activists are calling into question the department’s protocols.
“If that is policy and there is a lack of focus on humanity and civility to anyone, then they certainly need to be addressing and changing that policy effective immediately,” Rev. T. Sheri Dickerson, a leader with Black Lives Matter OKC, told KFOR-TV.
Video of Scott’s arrest comes amid international protests against racism and police brutality following the death of George Floyd, a Black man, while in police custody in Minneapolis last month. Floyd stated repeatedly that he couldn’t breathe as officers pinned him to the ground and one knelt on his neck. Four officers have been charged in Floyd’s death.