A Black Man’s Death in the Back of a Police Car Was Ruled a Homicide, So Why Haven’t Any Arrests Been Made?

On June 27, 2022, officers were called to a convenience store in El Paso, Texas after it was reported a man “exhibited signs of mental distress and appeared to be experiencing visual and auditory hallucinations,” according to court documents obtained by ABC.

The man, 36-year-old Michael Charles Thompson, reportedly told the store clerk to call the police for help, but when they arrived, what was meant to be a wellness check turned deadly.

Thompson’s family announced on the second anniversary of Thompson’s death they would be filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of El Paso. The attorney representing the family called the city’s actions “one of the most utterly gross displays of medical indifference after the unimaginable level of excessive force against someone they knew was not committing a crime, and they themselves claimed was in a mental health crisis and in need of transport to emergency services but they chose to attack him instead.”

The incident report, obtained by KFox TV, says Thompson repeatedly resisted arrest, forcing the on-duty officer to call for backup. Multiple officers arrived and said Thompson was intoxicated and paranoid. Witnesses say a struggle ensued while police tried to detain Thompson, leading to officers putting Thompson on his stomach in an attempt to gain full control.

Officers reportedly tased Thompson multiple times, which his family described as “excessive force.” After he was tased, Thompson reportedly said “he was dying” and he was “asking for help,” according to the document.

The lawsuit also states officers punched, kicked, and kneeled on Thompson while paramedics stood by and did nothing. Eventually, Thompson was handcuffed, arrested, and placed in the back of a patrol car where he died.

Because there was no primary offense listed in the documents, it remains unclear why Thompson was arrested based on the wellness check.

According to an autopsy report obtained by KFox TV, Thompson’s death was ruled a homicide, citing police subdural and factors of acute methamphetamine and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Despite the autopsy’s clear homicide ruling, no arrests were ever made.

Thompson was a army veteran and a father of two young girls. On the family’s GoFundMe page, Thompson’s cousin Nancy wrote “death should not be the answer to an Army Veteran who served this country and is in a mental health crisis. Death should not be the answer to a call for help.”