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On April 9, stunning bodycam footage was launched to the general public exhibiting a distressed unarmed man dying in police custody at a Dallas hospital in 2022.
Kenneth Knotts’s palms had been cuffed behind his again, with a minimum of three hospital cops surrounding him whereas he urgently pleaded for water and struggled to catch his breath.
Within the disturbing clip, the dad of 4 abruptly yells, “I can’t breathe,” — a chilling echo of the phrases uttered by George Floyd earlier than he died.
Most of the similar points and outrages surrounding George Floyd’s tragic loss of life on Might 25, 2020, have flared up once more with the loss of life of Kenneth Knotts. A health worker had beforehand deemed Knotts’ loss of life a murder, but a grand jury determined to not indict the police concerned.
“He had quite a lot of life to dwell and cherished his kids and his household,” his grieving mom, Jocelyn Knotts, instructed Fox 4 on the heels of an extreme pressure lawsuit the household filed towards UT Southwestern Medical Middle. His household is set not to surrender of their struggle for justice.
“I’m very offended proper now as a result of there isn’t any motive for Kenneth to be gone,” Jocelyn stated.
What occurred to Kenneth Knotts?
Knotts, 41, was on a street journey from Houston to Dallas with a girl and two of his kids when a tire blew out in Hutchins, Texas, round 8 a.m., based on the criticism filed by household’s legal professional, Geoff Henley. This prompted what his mother later characterised as a psychological breakdown based mostly on an outline from his feminine passenger.
Officers arrived to search out Knotts on high of a white SUV at a comfort retailer on Interstate 45, holding an toddler in his arms, based on CBS Information. The legislation permits officers to arrest the mentally disordered with no warrant in the event that they pose a menace to others or themselves — police have vital discretion in these incidences.
Police arrested Knotts on November 29, 2022 and took him to UT Southwestern Medical Middle that morning for a psych analysis.
Knotts, who was nonetheless out-of-sorts, managed to flee the hospital, however the police introduced him again, and that’s the place the video footage reportedly picks up. His legal professional Henley launched eight minutes in a press convention however says there are virtually 20 further unreleased video and audio recordings of the incident from totally different angles.
“I Can’t breathe”
Hospital police allowed Knotts to get water from a faucet together with his palms whereas nonetheless restrained. Nevertheless, we see within the footage that he desperately pleaded for extra and was held again on the hospital mattress by not less than three officers.
The footage reveals Knotts face down, moaning and struggling earlier than his physique goes utterly nonetheless. Medical employees wrestle to elevate a seemingly unconscious Knotts again onto the mattress when one shouts, “No pulse! No pulse!”
“He wasn’t respiratory, was he?” one medical staffer requested, earlier than saying “s–t.” After an hour of life-saving measures, Knotts was pronounced useless at roughly 1:02 p.m.
His legal professional, Henley, believes the palms urgent on his consumer and the way in which he was positioned on the mattress grew to become deadly, based on CBS Information.
If you find yourself susceptible and handcuffed, you might be completely defenseless and in extreme threat of your life since you simply can not breathe,” Henley stated.
NEW: New bodycam footage reveals Texas man Kenneth Knotts saying “I am unable to breathe” earlier than dying in police custody at UT Southwestern Medical Middle.
Knotts was taken for a psychological well being analysis after a site visitors cease.
When he acquired to the hospital, Knotts seemed to be struggling… pic.twitter.com/L9bD1nR49t
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 11, 2024
The health worker dominated his method of loss of life “murder,” writing, “based mostly on the case historical past…and evaluate of accessible legislation enforcement body-worn digital camera footage, it’s my opinion that Kenneth Knotts…died on account of sudden cardiac arrest related to bodily restraint and semi-prone place,” reported Fox4 in October of 2023. However a Dallas County grand jury determined to not indict any hospital police or medical employees in reference to the murder.
In the meantime, the hospital had not launched footage, recognized any of the cops who had been concerned, and even disclosed his loss of life had occurred.
The Knotts household filed a federal civil lawsuit towards the UT System in October 2023, alleging extreme pressure, and the video footage launched this week helps shine a lightweight on what occurred that fateful morning in November. Henley instructed The Dallas Morning Information, “The man was in psychological misery, clearly he was irrational, however you don’t need to kill them to resolve what is completely a medical downside.”
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