United States: A Man, Pinned To The Ground During His Arrest, Dies

Mario Gonzalez died during his arrest. The 26-year-old man, visibly confused when the police arrived, was pinned to the ground for more than five minutes on April 19 in Alameda near San Francisco. The two policemen got up when they realized he was no longer reacting. The video of the intervention, captured by the camera carried by one of the agents, was made public by the police on Tuesday evening. The circumstances of Mario Gonzalez’s death are reminiscent of the murder of George Floyd last year in Minneapolis, suffocated by the pressure of the knee of police officer Derek Chauvin.

Alameda police initially claimed that Mario Gonzalez died of a “medical emergency”, promising a transparent and independent investigation into the facts. But the family of the young man, a resident of Oakland, categorically rejected this explanation, after viewing the video of the arrest. “What I saw is different from what I was told,” said Gerardo Gonzalez, the victim’s brother, as quoted by local television station KTVU. “The medical emergency was because they were standing on his back while he was lying on the ground. ”

Police officer pressed Mario Gonzalez’s shoulder blade with his knee

The video, shot by the camera-pedestrian of one of the police officers, shows the officers attempting to handcuff Mario Gonzalez in a public garden, after the obese and confused man did not hand them his identity papers. The police, to control him, then tackle him to the ground. One of them exerts a long pressure with his knee on Mario Gonzalez’s shoulder blade, another pressing with his elbow on his back. “I didn’t do anything,” he moaned, alternating howls and groans, before losing consciousness. Noting his vital distress, the agents began a cardiac massage, in vain.