In a few weeks, on May 25, the internet will more than likely be swarmed with images of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed in 2020 by a Minneapolis police officer who pressed his knee onto his neck for nearly 10 minutes. However, his official manner of death has become eerily common since then.
Last month, 25-year-old Christian Black died after being taken into police custody by Montgomery sheriff’s deputies. Police said Black struck his head against his cell resulting in him being placed in a restraint chair, per WDTN. However, surveillance footage shows Black being Tased and placed in a headlock while in the chair.
“The video clearly shows that not a single jail employee offered any life-saving measures as Mr. Black was dying right in front of them,” his family attorneys said in a statement.
Eventually, Black lost consciousness. The family says the officers there didn’t administer aid until almost 13 minutes after he appeared to lose consciousness, per the report. He later succumbed from his injuries at the hospital. The Montgomery County Coroner ruled he died by mechanical and positional asphyxia. The manner of death was ruled a homicide.
So it went for Floyd. Dr. Andrew Baker testified during the trial that he died of asphyxia, per NBC. Irvo Otieno, a Black man who was dog-piled by Henrico, Virginia, police amidst a mental health crisis, also died of asphyxia in 2023. Another Black man named Rolin Hill died of “mechanical and positional” asphyxia after being restrained by officers while being booked into jail last June. In April 2024, the world also watched Frank Tyson have his life squeezed out of him after an officer pressed his knee into his back for several minutes until he went unconscious.
“I can’t breathe!” he groaned in the video, desperately trying to signal to officers that he was suffocating but to no avail.
Nearly each death was ruled a homicide. And in nearly every case the Black man left this world crying out for help or for their mothers. As we remember George Floyd’s death, let’s take note that the way the police took him out has become more of a pattern— just like fatal shootings.