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"I can't breathe" Asheville NC [View all]
Last edited Tue Apr 3, 2018, 01:24 PM - Edit history (1)
‘I can’t breathe.’ Asheville police video shows white officer beating, choking black jaywalking suspect
Johnnie Rush was just trying to get home from a long shift at the Cracker Barrel.
Then he got stopped for jaywalking — an encounter with the Asheville Police Department that ultimately left Rush with a bloodied face after an officer punched him multiple times, Tasered him and put him in a chokehold on the ground.
On Monday, the City of Asheville, N.C., released nine videos from the officers’ body-worn cameras showing the encounter and ensuing assault from various angles while Rush screamed, “I can’t breathe,” and “Help!” The officer who repeatedly struck Rush in the head, Christopher Hickman, resigned from APD in January just before he was terminated for violating the use-of-force policy, according to city officials. He was charged in March with felony assault by strangulation and misdemeanor assault inflicting serious injury and communicating threats for the August 2017 incident. His lawyer says he’s going to trial and that a jury will acquit him.
“What happened in these recordings is unacceptable and does not meet the standards of the Asheville Police Department, the values of the City of Asheville, or the expectations of Asheville residents,” city officials said in a written statement posted with the videos Monday. “Christopher Hickman’s actions violated the Asheville Police Department’s vision that all people are treated with dignity and respect. These actions have damaged the progress that the Asheville Police Department has made in the last several years in improving community trust.”
Johnnie Rush was just trying to get home from a long shift at the Cracker Barrel.
Then he got stopped for jaywalking — an encounter with the Asheville Police Department that ultimately left Rush with a bloodied face after an officer punched him multiple times, Tasered him and put him in a chokehold on the ground.
On Monday, the City of Asheville, N.C., released nine videos from the officers’ body-worn cameras showing the encounter and ensuing assault from various angles while Rush screamed, “I can’t breathe,” and “Help!” The officer who repeatedly struck Rush in the head, Christopher Hickman, resigned from APD in January just before he was terminated for violating the use-of-force policy, according to city officials. He was charged in March with felony assault by strangulation and misdemeanor assault inflicting serious injury and communicating threats for the August 2017 incident. His lawyer says he’s going to trial and that a jury will acquit him.
“What happened in these recordings is unacceptable and does not meet the standards of the Asheville Police Department, the values of the City of Asheville, or the expectations of Asheville residents,” city officials said in a written statement posted with the videos Monday. “Christopher Hickman’s actions violated the Asheville Police Department’s vision that all people are treated with dignity and respect. These actions have damaged the progress that the Asheville Police Department has made in the last several years in improving community trust.”
"What happened in these recordings..." drives me crazy. Why can't they say "what happened to Mr. Rush was unacceptable" or "what this officer did was assault and a felony"? Leaves me wondering...if the recordings didn't exist, did it happen? Nothing was done until the recordings were leaked to the city newspaper, so I guess that answers my question.
Asheville is a liberal city, so I think there is a good chance to seat a jury that will convict Hickman and keep him from just moving on to another PD.
Lots more detail at the link. Sorry for the paywall.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/04/03/i-cant-breathe-asheville-police-video-shows-white-officer-beating-choking-black-jaywalking-suspect/?utm_term=.22343b4986b1
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