Harrowing video footage shows death in custody of Aboriginal man
Source: The Guardian
David Dungay died after telling five Australian police officers that he could not breathe while being restrained
Mon 16 Jul 2018 02.46 EDT
Shocking video footage of the death in custody of an Indigenous Australian man has been aired in court for the first time, depicting five officers restraining a man who said 12 times that he could not breathe.
David Dungay Jr died in 2016 while he was being held down by officers in a Sydney jail.
An insulin-dependent diabetic, 26-year-old Dungay had been eating biscuits. Prison officers told him to stop and, after giving him a minute to comply, stormed his cell, restrained him face down and handcuffed him.
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Members of Dungays family left the room when the footage was shown at the inquest into his death, which began on Monday in Sydney.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jul/16/harrowing-video-footage-shows-death-in-custody-of-aboriginal-man
And I don't blame them! Here is the Very Graphic video:
jesus
SamKnause
(13,009 posts)Exactly what danger was this man to those officers ???
NONE !!!
Bayard
(21,729 posts)Why did they give him biscuits? And does that mean regular biscuits or some kind of cookie? No, not good for a diabetic, unless he's having an insulin reaction.
But, none of these officers sound angry or out of control. They calmly explained what they were doing the entire episode, and why. I would also be saying, if you can talk, you can breathe. They knew they were being video'd the entire time. Over here, he probably would have been tasered or worse.
It looks and sounds like they were just doing their jobs, even though the outcome was tragic. It sounds like there were more health issues involved.
milestogo
(16,829 posts)He needed medical attention. He wasn't just talking, he was asking for help.
moriah
(8,311 posts)... or severity of asthma.
As you if you watched, and everyone there who was saying that to this poor man, should have realized after he was unconscious within 15 seconds of his last words.
FSogol
(45,312 posts)moriah
(8,311 posts)I know prison guatds don't necessarily intend to be murderous jackasses, but if this had been shown to the public before the death of Samira Wiley's character on OITNB, I'd accuse the show of deliberately ripping it off for their showing of how it can happen.
An officer is using a knee for compression in the back, and even after he's under relative control they keep using the knee in that very dangerous position. He does try to cooperate and focus on breathing, but the knee never lets up pressure. And when the fear that came from still not getting enough air made him start struggling again, it looked like the guy with the knee for control placed MORE compression.
I have severe asthma. The number of asthmatics who die in custody because of delays in getting rescue inhalers is bad enough.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positional_asphyxia#Prone_restraint
It's clear that the technique used by these officers contributed, and if nothing else they need to learn to distinguish real panic/fear struggles from resisting. These officers couldn't. Perhaps the person responding wouldn't either. But we as a society have a job to do when it comes to housing criminals -- keep them alive as well as keep them "controlled". And that means at least investing in better training on techniques to control inmates without killing them.
Coventina
(26,808 posts)Brits and Aussies use the term "biscuits" for what we call cookies.
Duppers
(28,088 posts)Did he die of asphyxiation? A good post-mortem exam should explain a lot.
I read the Guardian article quoting a guard saying, "oh fuck, he's gone." I did not hear that at the end of the clip. Could the injection have killed him? Or a guard choking him?
But I agree, how can you talk w/o breathing?