For eleven minutes – that’s how long several police officers and hospital staff held Irvo Otieno, who was handcuffed and ankle-cuffed, to the ground – they sometimes knelt on him. In the end, the 28-year-old African American was dead. According to the coroner, the mentally ill man died of “position-dependent and mechanical suffocation with shackles”. Seven police officers and three hospital workers have been charged with manslaughter.
“The official cause and manner of death comes as no surprise to us as it confirms what the world saw on video,” family attorneys Ben Crump and Mark Krudys said in a statement Monday. “In a chilling parallel to George Floyd’s assassination, Irvo was held and excessively restrained until his death, despite the need for medical attention and compassion. It is tragic that another life was lost to this vicious and deadly restraining technique.” African American George Floyd died in a brutal police operation in Minneapolis in May 2020 after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nine minutes. The case led to nationwide protests against police violence and racism.
Irvo Otieno was admitted to Central State Hospital in Virginia on March 6. Video recordings from a surveillance camera published by the US media initially show how several police officers drag the man out of his cell and push him into a room, his feet and hands tied. Then they push the stout man to the ground and fix him by partially kneeling on him. For eleven full minutes – until Otieno stops moving. The recordings show how more valuable minutes pass and none of the bystanders – at times there are more than 20 people in the room – tries to revive the apparently lifeless man. The emergency call is said to have been made only after the 28-year-old had already died.
Some of the lawyers for the accused police officers and hospital workers said their clients were only trying to restrain Otieno. All of the defendants were granted bail. According to court documents, hearings are planned before the trial in April or May.
Watch the video: At a memorial service in Memphis for black man Tire Nichols and other black victims of police violence, those present called for reform of policing in the country – including Vice President Kamala Harris.
Sources: Associated Press, bencrump.com, ABC News, DPA
