Sorry to dig up an old thread, but....this happened 2 months before George Floyd. Video now just being released. Held down after a DUI, scared of needles he was refusing to give blood. So cops knelt on him. 11 times he yelled he couldn't breathe, before dying.
No outrage, because...he white.
Horrifying video shows final moments of LA DUI suspect who died after screaming 'I can't breathe' ELEVEN times after being pinned to ground face-down for refusing to give blood sample over fear of needles
- Edward Bronstein, 38, died March 31, 2020 in Pasadena less than two months before George Floyd died in Minneapolis
- Footage of his final moments was released by LA cops on Wednesday after his family sued to see the harrowing video
- He was pulled over for suspicion of drunk driving and police were forcing him to give blood for a sobriety test
- His family sued for excessive use of force and violation of his civil rights
- Video shows Bronstein being forced onto a mat in the police station's garage while handcuffed then five officer kneel on his back as they extract blood
- He screams 'I can't breathe' 11 times before he eventually falls silent
- The California Highway Patrol fought the release of the video tape, but a federal judge ordered them to do so
- Criminal justice experts say the tape shows a callous disregard for human life
A California father's harrowing final moments have emerged in harrowing police footage showing him scream 'I can't breathe' while dying as he was held face-down on the ground by cops.
www.dailymail.co.uk
A
California father's harrowing final moments have emerged in harrowing police footage showing him scream 'I can't breathe' while dying as he was held face-down on the ground so cops could extract a blood sample.
Edward Bronstein, 38, died on March 31, 2020, less than two months before
George Floyd was killed by police in
Minnesota, after an altercation during his arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence.
He was pulled over for a DUI, but taken to a police station after refusing to give a blood sample, which his family says was due to a fear of needles. Bronstein began wailing with fear after being pinned to the ground face-down shortly afterwards, and died shortly afterwards, with efforts to revive him proving unsuccessful.
The California Highway Patrol had fought to keep the tape from going public after the man's family sued over excessive use of force and civil rights violations, but a federal court judge ordered it released on Tuesday.
An 18-minute video of the arrest, taken by a California Highway Patrol sergeant in Pasadena, shows a handcuffed Bronstein, a father to two daughters, arguing with police as the lead him to a mat on the floor of the Altadena station garage and forcing him to his knees to take a blood sample he'd refused to give.
He initially argues, but begins screaming with fear after being flung to the ground face down.
'I'll do it willingly,' Bronstein can be heard saying as two officers hover over him and a man can be heard warning him not to resist taking a court ordered blood sample to determine his intoxication level.
VIDEO:
https://videos.dailymail.co.uk/prev...197462949/636x382_MP4_2006903563197462949.mp4
'You can just provide it and still say you don't consent,' the officer tells him as he continues to protest his treatment. 'You're the one bringing the fight, not us.'
'I'm not fighting at all,' Bronstein says as an officer keeps his hand on his shoulder.
'Then have a seat and provide you arm. This is your last opportunity,' the patrolman said. 'Otherwise you're going to go face down on the map and we're going to keep on going.'
Bronstein's family said that he had a fear of needles.
Officers swarm Bronstein and pull his legs out from under him, causing him to squirm on the ground.
Five officers can be seen kneeling on him as he screams 'I'll do it willingly, I'll do it willingly.'
'Too late,' the officer says. 'We're not even poking you yet. You need to relax.'
Then Bronstein says, 'I can't breathe, I can't breathe.'
Eventually, he stops moving and officers draw blood from his limp body.
A second video, more than 12 minutes long, shows the officers' and paramedics' unsuccessful attempts to revive Bronstein.
They can be seen slapping him in the head and calling his name.
They turn him over and start giving him CPR and oxygen, but did not recover.
One officer tells the paramedics that Bronstein had been complaining of 'shortness of breath.'
'When we rolled him back over, he was turning blue,' he said.
Soon after, someone reminds the group: 'Everybody's on camera.'
The LA County coroner's office ruled Bronstein's cause of death as 'acute methamphetamine intoxication during restraint by law enforcement.' A copy of the autopsy report was not immediately available.
The family is calling for the officers to be criminally charged by the Los Angeles County district attorney.
The LA County District Attorney's Office said 'the matter remains under review.'
'When the nation was in an uproar over the George Floyd tragedy, we had no idea this had also happened to Mr. Bronstein,' said Luis Carrillo, an attorney for Bronstein's family.
'In my view the officers demonstrated a callous disregard for the value of human life and their actions should be investigated as potentially being criminal conduct,' Bowling Green State University criminal justice professor Philip Stinson told the Associated Press.
The state attorney general's office is representing the highway patrol and the officers in the federal lawsuit and referred media inquiries to CHP.
Officer Shanelle Gonzalez, a spokesperson for CHP, said the agency is declining to comment on the case because of the pending litigation.
A 2021 law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom makes it illegal for police to restrain suspects face-down because the maneuver has lead to multiple unintended deaths. Inspired by George Floyd's death it, was passed after Bronstein died.